Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $10.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $8.42 and last traded at $9.92, with a volume of 2140998 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.12.

HLIT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.17.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLIT. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Harmonic by 40.3% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 201,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after buying an additional 57,888 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $833,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Harmonic in the third quarter worth approximately $2,915,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $38,986,000 after purchasing an additional 17,665 shares during the period. Finally, Bouvel Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,756,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.13.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Harmonic Company Profile

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.