AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ:AUDC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 160,200 shares, a decrease of 27.9% from the August 15th total of 222,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 77,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AudioCodes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of AudioCodes in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AudioCodes

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,828 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 9,827 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 82,022 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 13,642 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of AudioCodes during the fourth quarter worth about $787,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of AudioCodes by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 73,827 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 12,835 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AudioCodes in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Institutional investors own 68.05% of the company’s stock.

AudioCodes Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of AUDC traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $9.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 211,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,096. AudioCodes has a one year low of $7.14 and a one year high of $14.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.01.

AudioCodes (NASDAQ:AUDC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11. The firm had revenue of $60.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.93 million. AudioCodes had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 5.61%. On average, research analysts predict that AudioCodes will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

AudioCodes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. AudioCodes’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

About AudioCodes

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.