Wall Street Zen Upgrades Calix (NYSE:CALX) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Calix has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting increased confidence among analysts.
• The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the latest quarter, significantly beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) and indicating a 22.1% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Calix's board approved a $100 million share repurchase plan, signaling management's belief that its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Calix (NYSE:CALX - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Roth Capital set a $50.00 price objective on Calix and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Calix from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Calix in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Calix from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Calix in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Calix currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.25.

Calix Stock Performance

Shares of CALX stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.19. 618,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 846,364. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -140.47 and a beta of 1.37. Calix has a one year low of $28.60 and a one year high of $57.90. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $50.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.03.

Calix (NYSE:CALX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $241.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.81 million. Calix had a negative net margin of 3.09% and a negative return on equity of 3.21%. Calix's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Calix will post -0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Calix announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, April 21st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 4.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Calix

In other news, CFO Cory Sindelar sold 10,000 shares of Calix stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 76,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,271,960. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carl Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.40, for a total value of $1,385,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,114,188 shares in the company, valued at $117,126,015.20. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $2,465,000. Company insiders own 16.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Calix in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Calix by 91.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Calix by 112.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Calix by 1,704.0% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,353 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Calix by 119.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.14% of the company's stock.

Calix Company Profile

Calix, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of cloud and software platforms, and systems and services in the United States, rest of Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Its cloud and software platforms, and systems and services enable broadband service providers (BSPs) to provide a range of services.