Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $11.00. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $8.75 and last traded at $8.98, with a volume of 1340608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.43.

HLIT has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Harmonic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays cut their target price on Harmonic from $14.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel T. Whalen purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.15 per share, for a total transaction of $30,450.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,726. The trade was a 51.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Walter Jankovic purchased 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.44 per share, for a total transaction of $113,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,457.76. This trade represents a 35.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 32,780 shares of company stock valued at $316,607 over the last three months. 2.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Harmonic by 414.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 201,976 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after buying an additional 162,727 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Harmonic by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Harmonic by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 246,944 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,598,000 after acquiring an additional 38,137 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Harmonic Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.06. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The business had revenue of $133.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.51 million. Harmonic’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to buy up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Harmonic

Harmonic Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband solutions worldwide. The company operates through Broadband and Video segments. The Broadband segment sells broadband access solutions and related services, including cOS software-based broadband access solutions to broadband operators; and cOS central cloud services, a subscription service for cOS customers.