B. Riley Securities Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW)

Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by B. Riley Securities in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $36.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $35.00. B. Riley Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 36.57% from the stock’s current price.

AVNW has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Aviat Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Aviat Networks from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Aviat Networks in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Aviat Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Aviat Networks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aviat Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.80.

Aviat Networks Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of AVNW traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.36. 192,568 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 129,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $338.38 million, a P/E ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 0.96. Aviat Networks has a 52-week low of $15.80 and a 52-week high of $27.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.40.

Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $111.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.67 million. Aviat Networks had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 3.27%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aviat Networks will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aviat Networks

In other Aviat Networks news, CEO Pete A. Smith sold 5,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $125,136.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 349,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,173,565.33. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce M. Taten sold 3,268 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $76,438.52. Following the sale, the director owned 20,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $476,945.49. This represents a 13.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aviat Networks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aviat Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Aviat Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Aviat Networks by 40.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,720 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Aviat Networks by 96.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,281 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Aviat Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.62% of the company’s stock.

About Aviat Networks

Aviat Networks, Inc is a specialist in wireless transport solutions, designing, manufacturing and selling microwave networking products that enable the secure and reliable transmission of data, voice and video. The company’s offerings address mission-critical communications needs for a broad range of end markets, including telecommunications service providers, utilities, government agencies and enterprises. Its product portfolio spans high-capacity packet microwave radios, IP transport systems and network management software.

Aviat’s core product lines include the WTM series of packet microwave platforms, which deliver scalable throughput and advanced resilience features, and the Eclipse packet microwave systems, which combine broadband capacity with synchronization, security and quality-of-service capabilities.