Ribbon Communications (NASDAQ:RBBN) Trading Up 4.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Ribbon Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:RBBN) was up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $6.50. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ribbon Communications traded as high as $3.58 and last traded at $3.39. Approximately 697,377 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 60% from the average daily volume of 436,820 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.25.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ribbon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruns H. Grayson acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.89 per share, with a total value of $289,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 590,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,705,605.75. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Dan Redington sold 23,964 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total transaction of $74,048.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,291 shares in the company, valued at $312,989.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruns H. Grayson purchased 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.89 per share, for a total transaction of $289,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 590,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,705,605.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 103,000 shares of company stock valued at $297,720 and sold 66,000 shares valued at $205,119. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ribbon Communications by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 26,571 shares during the last quarter. SG Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ribbon Communications by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 88,110 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Ribbon Communications by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 640,945 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after buying an additional 193,829 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ribbon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ribbon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.92% of the company’s stock.

Ribbon Communications Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $537.51 million, a P/E ratio of -8.94 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.69.

Ribbon Communications (NASDAQ:RBBN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. The business had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.63 million. Ribbon Communications had a negative net margin of 7.11% and a positive return on equity of 4.26%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ribbon Communications Inc. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ribbon Communications

Ribbon Communications Inc provides communications technology in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Cloud and Edge, and IP Optical Networks. The Cloud and Edge segment provides software and hardware products, solutions, and services for voice over internet protocol communications, voice over long-term evolution, and voice over 5G communications, and unified communications and collaboration.