Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $159.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on PLXS. KeyCorp began coverage on Plexus in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Plexus Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of PLXS stock opened at $161.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Plexus has a fifty-two week low of $90.18 and a fifty-two week high of $170.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Plexus will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 5,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction of $722,090.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,284.26. This represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total transaction of $950,738.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,271,870.10. This trade represents a 22.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,091 shares of company stock worth $5,377,960 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 573.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Plexus by 36,700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Plexus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plexus by 89.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 464 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Plexus

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.