StockNews.com Upgrades Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Separately, B. Riley raised shares of Spok from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Spok Stock Down 1.1 %

Spok stock opened at $14.97 on Tuesday. Spok has a 52 week low of $13.24 and a 52 week high of $17.96. The firm has a market cap of $305.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.99.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Spok had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $33.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.50 million. Equities analysts expect that Spok will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Spok Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.35%. Spok’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spok

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Spok by 18.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,837 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Spok by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,116 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Spok by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,269 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Spok by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,791 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Spok by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.81% of the company’s stock.

About Spok

Spok Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, Spok, Inc, provides healthcare communication solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. The company's products and services enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. It delivers clinical information to care teams when and where it matters to enhance patient outcomes; and provides GenA Pager, a one-way alphanumeric pager.