Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark upgraded Ceva to “strong buy” from “hold.” Across analysts, the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $40.60 average price target.
• Ceva shares opened at $27.78, down 4.2%, well below the 52-week high of $51.60. The company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.08 versus $0.07, while revenue rose 13% year over year to $29.03 million.
• Institutional investors own 85.37% of Ceva’s stock, with BlackRock, California State Teachers’ Retirement System and other funds making significant purchases during the second quarter.

Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Benchmark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

CEVA has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ceva from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ceva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ceva in a report on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Ceva from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Ceva from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ceva has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Ceva Stock Down 4.2%

NASDAQ CEVA opened at $27.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $782.12 million, a P/E ratio of -69.45 and a beta of 1.97. Ceva has a 52-week low of $17.02 and a 52-week high of $51.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.07.

Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.01. Ceva had a negative return on equity of 3.15% and a negative net margin of 9.48%.The company had revenue of $29.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ceva will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ceva

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Ceva in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $113,995,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Ceva by 5,814.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,469,317 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,293,000 after buying an additional 1,444,473 shares during the last quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Ceva during the second quarter worth $37,719,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Ceva during the second quarter worth $33,941,000. Finally, Oaktop Capital Management II L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ceva in the second quarter worth $21,051,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.37% of the company's stock.

About Ceva

CEVA, Inc NASDAQ: CEVA is a semiconductor intellectual property company that develops and licenses processor cores, connectivity platforms and software for use in wireless communications, consumer electronics, automotive systems, industrial equipment and the Internet of Things. Rather than manufacturing chips, CEVA provides technology that semiconductor companies and original equipment manufacturers can incorporate into their own products.

The company's portfolio includes digital signal processors, artificial intelligence and neural processing technologies, computer vision and sensor-fusion solutions, and platforms for wireless connectivity.

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