Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.75.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays downgraded Harmonic from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Institutional Trading of Harmonic

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 777.6% in the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 1,570,461 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,504 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Harmonic by 1,952.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 978,127 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $11,513,000 after purchasing an additional 930,469 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Harmonic during the 2nd quarter worth $7,687,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Harmonic by 117.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,187,528 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 642,033 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,043,000 after buying an additional 294,922 shares during the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Harmonic Price Performance

HLIT stock opened at $13.37 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.15. Harmonic has a 12-month low of $9.10 and a 12-month high of $15.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.77 million. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

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.