Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.25.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Harmonic from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Harmonic from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Harmonic Price Performance

Shares of HLIT opened at $13.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.07. Harmonic has a twelve month low of $9.10 and a twelve month high of $15.46.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $195.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.77 million. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. Harmonic’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Harmonic by 8.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,043,000 after buying an additional 294,922 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,675,268 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,665 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Harmonic by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,659,823 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $24,184,000 after acquiring an additional 219,685 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP increased its stake in 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. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Harmonic by 85.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,208,829 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $17,613,000 after purchasing an additional 555,737 shares in the last quarter. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.