AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

AUDC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AudioCodes from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of AudioCodes from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

AudioCodes Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AUDC opened at $11.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.64. AudioCodes has a 52 week low of $7.14 and a 52 week high of $14.45. The company has a market cap of $335.04 million, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.84.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.18 million. AudioCodes had a return on equity of 7.35% and a net margin of 3.59%. Analysts expect that AudioCodes will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.6%. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AudioCodes

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUDC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AudioCodes in the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in AudioCodes during the 3rd quarter valued at $134,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in AudioCodes during the fourth quarter worth $166,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AudioCodes in the fourth quarter worth $173,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AudioCodes in the third quarter valued at $188,000. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AudioCodes Company Profile

AudioCodes Ltd. provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace worldwide. The company offers solutions, products, and services for unified communications, contact centers, hosted business services, Voice.AI, and service provider businesses. Its products include session border controllers, life cycle management solutions, VoIP network routing solutions, media gateways and servers, multi-service business routers, IP phones solutions, and value-added applications, as well as professional services.