Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $124.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PLXS shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Plexus from $114.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark increased their price objective on Plexus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $131.03 on Monday. Plexus has a 1-year low of $87.21 and a 1-year high of $132.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $122.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.17. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm had revenue of $960.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $981.32 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Plexus will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Plexus news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $190,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 96,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,118,430. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Plexus news, insider Steven J. Frisch sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.11, for a total value of $841,042.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,076.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,656 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total value of $190,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 96,682 shares in the company, valued at $11,118,430. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,769 shares of company stock valued at $2,731,834. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLXS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Plexus during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,533,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 108.8% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 298,262 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,251,000 after acquiring an additional 155,447 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 204.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 158,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,306,000 after acquiring an additional 106,103 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 87,574 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,515,866 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $333,374,000 after acquiring an additional 74,988 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Company Profile

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.