Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Harmonic in a report on Friday, February 21st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Harmonic from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $12.33.

Harmonic Stock Performance

NASDAQ HLIT traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.49. The stock had a trading volume of 460,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,140,015. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.07 and a 200 day moving average of $10.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.76 and a beta of 1.04. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $7.91 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.18.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $133.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.51 million. Harmonic had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 5.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Harmonic will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Harmonic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the communications equipment provider to repurchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLIT. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $62,443,000 after buying an additional 4,667,996 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake 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 worth $29,516,000 after buying an additional 2,327,272 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,788,714 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $103,045,000 after buying an additional 1,300,128 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Harmonic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,621,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Harmonic by 198.2% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 797,176 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $10,547,000 after buying an additional 529,833 shares during the period. 99.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.