The shares of Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR) are trading 9.00% higher after the company reported better-than-expected result for the second quarter of 2015. The communications company announced non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.03 against market expectations of $0.02. Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR)’s revenue came in higher at $1.37 billion against estimates of $1.36 billion. The company grew its quarterly revenue by 19.3% on the year. Including one-time items, the video and data service provider had a net loss of $28 million or $0.03 per share against prior year net income of $38 million or $0.04 per share.
While discussing the second quarter results, Dan McCarthy, CEO of Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR), said, “[…] These strong revenue results reflect solid execution in both the residential and business segments, and are a result of substantial initiatives to enhance our product offerings and improve the customer experience. We continued our track record of strong broadband net additions, with 29,200 this quarter, representing our tenth consecutive quarter of broadband share gains.”
Among the major operational success during the last quarter quarter, the company mentioned raising equity worth $2.75 billion for the acquisition of the assets of Verizon in California, Florida, and Texas. Dan McCarthy added, “[…] We are also on track to obtain all required regulatory approvals as well as complete the integration of the Verizon properties.” At the end of the second quarter, Frontier Communications reported 3.48 million customers against the prior year figure of 3.03 million.
The shares of Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR) are down by 22.75% year-to-date. Hedge funds held a bullish outlook on the company, as a total of 22 hedge funds held $272.31 million worth of stock, against prior year net investment of $204.17 million. The shares of Frontier Communications were up 5.86% in the first quarter, contributing to the increase in aggregate investment value.
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With all of this in mind, we’re going to review the new action encompassing Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR).
What does the smart money think about Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR)?
As stated earlier, at the end of the first quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
According to hedge fund intelligence website Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, held the biggest position in Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR), which contained 8.65 million shares, valued at $61 million. Sitting on the second spot is Darsana Capital Partners, managed by Anand Desai, which held a $42.3 million position with 6 million shares. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish comprise David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As one would reasonably expect, several hedge funds disclosed new positions in Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR). Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management initiated a $14.1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Michael A. Price and Amos Meron’s Empyrean Capital Partners, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Considering a positive hedge fund outlook and better-than-expected quarterly results, we recommend investors to initiate positions at current weakness.
Disclosure: None
