Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $40.59, but opened at $42.28. Flex shares last traded at $41.62, with a volume of 1,446,803 shares trading hands.

The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Flex had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 16.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FLEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $39.00 price target on Flex in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Flex from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Flex from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Flex in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles K. Stevens III sold 13,157 shares of Flex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.69, for a total value of $509,044.33. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 55,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,155,535.97. This trade represents a 19.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FLEX. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Flex in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Flex during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Flex by 87.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Flex in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Flex during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

Flex Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.30.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices.