Short Interest in AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) Expands By 19.8%

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 158,700 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the January 31st total of 132,500 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 99,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AUDC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on AudioCodes from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on AudioCodes from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AudioCodes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th.

AudioCodes Stock Down 1.9 %

AUDC opened at $10.56 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.92. The company has a market capitalization of $319.09 million, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.80. AudioCodes has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $13.86.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. AudioCodes had a return on equity of 10.47% and a net margin of 6.32%. Equities analysts anticipate that AudioCodes will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AudioCodes by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,037 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 50,704 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in AudioCodes during the 3rd quarter worth $595,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AudioCodes by 151.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in AudioCodes by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 91,287 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 9,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in AudioCodes during the 4th quarter worth $97,000. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AudioCodes Company Profile

AudioCodes Ltd. provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace worldwide. The company offers solutions, products, and services for unified communications, contact centers, hosted business services, Voice.AI, and service provider businesses. Its products include session border controllers, life cycle management solutions, VoIP network routing solutions, media gateways and servers, multi-service business routers, IP phones solutions, and value-added applications, as well as professional services.