Calix (NYSE:CALX) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Calix (NYSE:CALX - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $53.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider's stock.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Calix from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Calix currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.83.

Calix Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CALX traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.66. 1,453,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 679,196. Calix has a 12 month low of $27.60 and a 12 month high of $42.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $34.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.13 and a beta of 1.75.

Calix (NYSE:CALX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. Calix had a negative return on equity of 3.43% and a negative net margin of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $220.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $206.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Calix will post -0.43 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Calix

In related news, Director Carl Russo sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.15, for a total value of $953,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,164,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,563,772.20. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Calix by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,759 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 5,045 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Calix by 8.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 402,248 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $14,256,000 after purchasing an additional 32,610 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Calix by 159.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,128 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 17,907 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Calix by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,414 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Calix by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,378,497 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $48,854,000 after buying an additional 103,175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.14% of the company's stock.

About Calix

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.