Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $82.13 and last traded at $82.13, with a volume of 335949 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CIEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ciena from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Ciena from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ciena from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Ciena from $75.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Ciena from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Ciena Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.81. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.40, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.95.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 12th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Ciena had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 3.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ciena Co. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ciena declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to buy up to 10.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total value of $135,278.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,604,752.01. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.99, for a total transaction of $88,928.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,139.14. The trade was a 3.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,489 shares of company stock worth $657,051 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ciena

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ciena in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Ciena by 424.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in Ciena during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ciena by 152.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 847 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 118.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.