Viavi Solutions’ (VIAV) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Stifel Nicolaus

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $12.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VIAV. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Viavi Solutions from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $10.60 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Viavi Solutions in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Viavi Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Viavi Solutions stock traded up $2.21 on Friday, reaching $12.20. 10,259,030 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,887,246. Viavi Solutions has a 52 week low of $6.60 and a 52 week high of $12.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.26 and a 200 day moving average of $9.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of -71.85 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.31.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a negative net margin of 3.78% and a positive return on equity of 2.22%. The firm had revenue of $238.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Viavi Solutions will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In other news, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 2,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.43, for a total transaction of $29,224.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 54,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,612.31. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masood Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.14, for a total transaction of $152,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 225,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,284,876.62. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,802 shares of company stock valued at $481,625 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viavi Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VIAV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Viavi Solutions by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,226 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viavi Solutions by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,442 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,732 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Viavi Solutions by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Viavi Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.54% of the company’s stock.

Viavi Solutions Company Profile

Viavi Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance.