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

Shares of Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $10.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Harmonic traded as low as $8.42 and last traded at $9.92, with a volume of 2140998 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.12.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HLIT. Raymond James downgraded Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Harmonic in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Harmonic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLIT. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Harmonic by 117.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Harmonic by 14,765.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 84.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,295 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Harmonic by 274.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,439 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 6,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Harmonic in the fourth quarter worth $137,000. Institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 7.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Harmonic Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.