Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) Earns Neutral Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup restated their neutral rating on shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $40.00 price objective on the network equipment provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Argus raised shares of Juniper Networks from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Juniper Networks from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Juniper Networks has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.67.

Juniper Networks Price Performance

Shares of JNPR opened at $38.85 on Monday. Juniper Networks has a twelve month low of $24.87 and a twelve month high of $39.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.43 and a 200 day moving average of $36.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The network equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). Juniper Networks had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.58%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Juniper Networks’s payout ratio is currently 127.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Juniper Networks news, CFO Kenneth Bradley Miller sold 28,669 shares of Juniper Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total transaction of $1,047,278.57. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 56,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,049,588.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Juniper Networks by 2,069.4% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Juniper Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Juniper Networks during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Juniper Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 91.95% of the company’s stock.

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks, Inc designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers.