Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Plexus Corp. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from four research firms, with an average target price of $155.67 per share.
• Insider activity reflects significant share sales, with the Chief Accounting Officer and CFO both reducing their holdings by over 7% and 14%, respectively.
• Plexus reported $1.90 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with a revenue of $1.02 billion, marking a 6% year-over-year increase.

Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $152.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLXS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Plexus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $140.00 target price on Plexus in a research note on Thursday. Sidoti raised shares of Plexus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Plexus from $162.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th.

Plexus Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of PLXS traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $127.40. 63,909 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 182,134. Plexus has a 52 week low of $103.43 and a 52 week high of $172.89. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. Plexus had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other news, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total value of $272,108.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 26,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,455,305.26. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.87, for a total transaction of $194,805.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,214 shares in the company, valued at $9,768,042.18. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,032 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,222. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLXS. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Plexus during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Plexus by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Plexus by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Plexus by 1,000.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Plexus during the 1st quarter valued at $71,000. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plexus Company Profile

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.