Bandwidth (NASDAQ:BAND) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Bandwidth hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $19.59 (last at $18.98) during mid-day with about 209,116 shares changing hands and the stock up roughly 6.8%.
• Analysts are mixed—four Buys, one Hold and two Sells—leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Hold with an average price target of $20.60; recent notes include B. Riley's Buy ($20 PT) and Weiss Ratings' Sell (D-).
• CFO Daryl Raiford sold 17,026 shares (a 24.4% reduction in his position), and the company shows a negative PE (-44.74) with a market cap of about $602M; insiders own 6.2% while institutional investors hold roughly 68.5%.

Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ:BAND - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.59 and last traded at $18.9840, with a volume of 209116 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BAND. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Bandwidth in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial began coverage on Bandwidth in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bandwidth from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bandwidth has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.60.

Bandwidth Trading Up 6.8%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $601.90 million, a PE ratio of -44.74 and a beta of 2.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Daryl E. Raiford sold 17,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.47, for a total transaction of $263,392.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 52,745 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $815,965.15. This represents a 24.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bandwidth

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BAND. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Bandwidth by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 40,927 shares of the company's stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 5,324 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Bandwidth during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $128,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Bandwidth by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 373,153 shares of the company's stock worth $5,933,000 after buying an additional 78,360 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Bandwidth by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 56,367 shares of the company's stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bandwidth during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,000. 68.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bandwidth Company Profile

Bandwidth Inc operates a cloud-based communications platform that provides voice, messaging and emergency services APIs for enterprises and developers. Through its proprietary network and software-as-a-service model, the company enables customers to integrate programmable voice calls, text messaging and 9-1-1 routing into their applications. Bandwidth's solutions aim to reduce complexity and improve reliability in mission-critical communications, serving industries such as healthcare, financial services, on-demand mobility and customer engagement.

Founded in 1999 in Raleigh, North Carolina by co-founders David Morken and Henry Kaestner, Bandwidth initially focused on voice-over-IP infrastructure before evolving into a full communications API provider.

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