Does DirecTV Belong in Your Portfolio?

With shares of DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV) trading around $66, is DTV an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let’s analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

DirecTV provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. The company engages in acquiring, promoting, selling, and distributing digital entertainment programming primarily through satellite to residential and commercial subscribers. A rising number of consumers are opting for satellite services due to the reduced costs and increased coverage offered. DirecTV is poised to capitalize on the increased entertainment demand from consumers in the United States and Latin America.

Despite multiple reports on Thursday saying the NFL and DirecTV have reached a new agreement to keep the exclusive Sunday Ticket package on satellite television, the league says no deal has been reached.“We do not have an agreement. Any speculation or reports to the contrary are not accurate,” NFL Media Group VP/Communications Alex Riethmiller told Sports Business Daily. An agreement may not be done, but DirecTV’s CEO declared himself “very optimistic” that a deal will get done to keep Sunday Ticket exclusively on DirecTV. So it sounds like DirecTV is prepared to spend whatever it will take to keep the NFL’s owners happy. If DirecTV can’t come to terms with the NFL on a new deal, the NFL could open it up to cable companies, or to Internet distributors like YouTube or Netflix.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

DirecTV stock has been trending higher in recent years. The stock is currently trading near all time highs and looks poised to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, DirecTV is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of DirecTV options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on DirecTV’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for DirecTV look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

DirecTV has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with DirecTV’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has DirecTV stock done relative to its peers, Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NASDAQ:TWC), and sector?

DirecTV has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

DirecTV is a digital television entertainment company that offers satellite services to consumers and companies across the nation. Despite multiple reports on Thursday saying the NFL and DirecTV have reached a new agreement to keep the exclusive Sunday Ticket package on satellite television, the league says no deal has been reached. The stock has been trending higher in recent years and is now trading slightly below all time highs. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been rising, leaving investors pleased about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, DirecTV has been an average relative performer year-to-date. Look for DirecTV to OUTPERFORM.

Using a solid investing framework such as this can help improve your stock-picking skills. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.