Calix (NYSE:CALX) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Calix (NYSE:CALX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $53.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 59.35% from the company’s current price.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Calix from $45.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Calix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.67.

Calix Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CALX opened at $33.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -73.91 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.10 and its 200 day moving average is $35.77. Calix has a 52 week low of $26.76 and a 52 week high of $42.50.

Calix (NYSE:CALX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $220.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.98 million. Calix had a negative net margin of 3.58% and a negative return on equity of 3.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Calix will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Calix announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 21st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to reacquire up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Calix news, Director Carl Russo sold 25,000 shares of Calix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.15, for a total transaction of $953,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,164,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,563,772.20. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Calix

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CALX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Calix by 367.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Calix by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,558 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Calix by 49.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Calix during the fourth quarter worth $84,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Calix by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,772 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares during the period. 98.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Calix

Calix, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of cloud and software platforms, and systems and services in the United States, rest of Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Its cloud and software platforms, and systems and services enable broadband service providers (BSPs) to provide a range of services.