Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

FLEX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Flex from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Flex from $142.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Flex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Flex from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Flex from $154.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.78.

Flex Price Performance

FLEX opened at $88.10 on Monday. Flex has a 1 year low of $53.07 and a 1 year high of $166.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.06.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.17 billion. Flex had a net margin of 3.35% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Flex will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Flex news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.64, for a total value of $332,363.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 243,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,336,632. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLEX. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Flex in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in Flex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton bought a new stake in Flex during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Security National Bank of SO Dak bought a new stake in Flex during the second quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Signature Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Flex by 56.3% during the third quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 605 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

About Flex

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) is a global manufacturing and supply chain solutions provider. The company helps original equipment manufacturers design, engineer, manufacture, distribute and service products across their lifecycles.

Flex serves customers in industries including automotive, communications, consumer electronics, health care, industrial, lifestyle and cloud infrastructure. Its capabilities include product design and engineering, printed circuit board assembly, systems integration, supply chain management, logistics, and aftermarket services.

The company was founded in 1969 as Flextronics and later adopted the name Flex.