StockNews.com Upgrades Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) to “Buy”

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VIAV. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $10.60 price target on the stock. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Viavi Solutions from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $10.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Viavi Solutions from $8.25 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viavi Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.44.

Viavi Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Viavi Solutions stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $10.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,122,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,414. Viavi Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $6.60 and a fifty-two week high of $11.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.71 and a quick ratio of 3.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.89. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.58 and a beta of 0.91.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.06. Viavi Solutions had a positive return on equity of 2.22% and a negative net margin of 3.78%. The business 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 business posted $0.05 earnings per share. Viavi Solutions’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viavi Solutions will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viavi Solutions

In related news, 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 value of $152,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 225,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,284,876.62. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Luke M. Scrivanich sold 2,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.43, for a total value of $29,224.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 54,517 shares in the company, valued at $568,612.31. The trade was a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,802 shares of company stock valued at $318,875. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in Viavi Solutions by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,900 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Viavi Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Viavi Solutions by 53.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,388 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Viavi Solutions by 7.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,761 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Viavi Solutions by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,938 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,875 shares during the period. 95.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.