Viavi Solutions Inc (VIAV) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Viavi Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:VIAV) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,600,532 shares, an increase of 177.0% from the February 28th total of 3,827,528 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,776,299 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VIAV shares. TheStreet raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Viavi Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.25 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.20 price objective for the company. Jefferies Group LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.25 price objective on shares of Viavi Solutions in a research note on Saturday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.18.

Shares of Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) traded down 0.70% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.90. 2,431,410 shares of the stock were exchanged. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.87. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32 and a beta of 1.51. Viavi Solutions has a 12 month low of $5.93 and a 12 month high of $11.15.

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The firm earned $206.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.73 million. Viavi Solutions had a net margin of 10.29% and a return on equity of 8.22%. Viavi Solutions’s revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viavi Solutions will post $0.36 EPS for the current year.

In other Viavi Solutions news, SVP Ralph Rondinone sold 10,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.67, for a total transaction of $112,632.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,584 shares in the company, valued at $91,591.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan Louise Spradley sold 19,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $178,612.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 41,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,151.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,702 shares of company stock valued at $853,486. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 592,615 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $4,848,000 after buying an additional 263,270 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 4.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. now owns 6,009,227 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,408,000 after buying an additional 239,364 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Group LTD raised its position in shares of Viavi Solutions by 7.0% in the third quarter. BlackRock Group LTD now owns 313,122 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 20,579 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Viavi Solutions by 62.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,221,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,026,000 after buying an additional 471,300 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Viavi Solutions by 4.5% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 385,504 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,849,000 after buying an additional 16,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

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About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions Inc (Viavi) is a provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions to communications service providers, enterprises and their ecosystems. The Company also offers thin film optical coatings, providing light management solutions to anti-counterfeiting, consumer and industrial, government and healthcare and other markets.