Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH)

Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CYH) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 11,874 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 447% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,170 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CYH. StockNews.com raised Community Health Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Community Health Systems from $5.50 to $4.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Community Health Systems in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $3.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Community Health Systems has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Health Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Community Health Systems by 78.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 78,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 34,473 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Community Health Systems in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Community Health Systems by 51.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 14,104 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Community Health Systems by 12.9% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 164,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 18,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Community Health Systems by 20.5% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,715,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,974,000 after buying an additional 292,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

Community Health Systems Price Performance

NYSE:CYH opened at $3.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $451.69 million, a P/E ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.06. Community Health Systems has a 1 year low of $2.01 and a 1 year high of $6.53.

Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Community Health Systems had a negative return on equity of 5.51% and a negative net margin of 1.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.43) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Community Health Systems will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Health Systems Company Profile

Community Health Systems, Inc owns, leases, and operates general acute care hospitals in the United States. It offers general acute care, emergency room, general and specialty surgery, critical care, internal medicine, obstetrics, diagnostic, psychiatric, and rehabilitation services, as well as skilled nursing and home care services.