Analysts Set Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW) Target Price at $34.50

Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.50.

AVNW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Aviat Networks from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Aviat Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Aviat Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Aviat Networks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Aviat Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Aviat Networks Price Performance

Aviat Networks stock opened at $22.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $295.80 million, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.83. Aviat Networks has a 12 month low of $15.80 and a 12 month high of $27.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.10.

Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.67 million. Aviat Networks had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 3.27%. Analysts expect that Aviat Networks will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Aviat Networks news, CEO Pete A. Smith sold 17,086 shares of Aviat Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $449,874.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 358,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,445,808.51. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gary Croke sold 6,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $181,146.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 43,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,149,341.60. This trade represents a 13.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aviat Networks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aviat Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 700,233 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $16,056,000 after purchasing an additional 8,179 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Aviat Networks by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 648,235 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,859,000 after purchasing an additional 51,000 shares during the last quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aviat Networks by 22.2% during the second quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 531,398 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $12,780,000 after buying an additional 96,367 shares during the period. Western Standard LLC increased its position in shares of Aviat Networks by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Western Standard LLC now owns 494,238 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,567,000 after buying an additional 226,332 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aviat Networks by 5.8% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 445,947 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $10,226,000 after buying an additional 24,284 shares during the last quarter. 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.