Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) shares reached a new 52-week low of $7.80 following a downgrade by Needham & Company, which lowered its price target from $14.00 to $12.00.
• Analyst ratings are mixed, with two analysts providing a sell rating, while five maintain a buy rating, leading to a consensus rating of Hold with a price target of $11.67.
• Despite the recent decline, Harmonic reported a quarterly earnings beat with $0.09 EPS on revenue of $138.03 million, indicating a slight year-over-year revenue decrease of 0.5%.

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $12.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $7.80 and last traded at $8.44, with a volume of 599159 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.14.

HLIT has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays set a $8.00 target price on shares of Harmonic and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Harmonic in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Harmonic from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Harmonic by 9,004.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,719,837 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $62,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,667,996 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in Harmonic by 310.1% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 3,077,776 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $29,516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327,272 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Harmonic by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $103,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,128 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Harmonic in the 1st quarter valued at $8,621,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in Harmonic by 198.2% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $10,547,000 after buying an additional 529,833 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Harmonic Stock Up 3.1%

The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.79.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $138.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $134.90 million. Harmonic had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 17.83%. Harmonic's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic Company Profile

Harmonic Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband solutions worldwide. The company operates through Broadband and Video segments. The Broadband segment sells broadband access solutions and related services, including cOS software-based broadband access solutions to broadband operators; and cOS central cloud services, a subscription service for cOS customers.