Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Hits New 1-Year Low Following 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%.

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $7.80 and last traded at $8.44, with a volume of 599159 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.14.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $8.00 price objective on Harmonic and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harmonic

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,474,771 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $110,043,000 after purchasing an additional 411,443 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,081,298 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $77,500,000 after acquiring an additional 292,584 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 9,004.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,667,996 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 310.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,327,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,615,121 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,079,000 after acquiring an additional 469,764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.38% of the company's stock.

Harmonic Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a market cap of $944.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.73.

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

About Harmonic

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.