Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.05 and last traded at $16.01, with a volume of 325480 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DAKT. StockNews.com upgraded Daktronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Singular Research raised Daktronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

Daktronics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $741.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.50, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.75 and a 200 day moving average of $13.31.

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $226.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.84 million. Daktronics had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 1.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Daktronics, Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Daktronics news, VP Matthew John Kurtenbach sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.28, for a total transaction of $204,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,200. This trade represents a 86.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley T. Wiemann sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.89, for a total value of $322,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,398.94. This trade represents a 22.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Daktronics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Daktronics in the third quarter valued at $4,101,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Daktronics by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,338,484 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,291,000 after purchasing an additional 41,076 shares during the period. Progeny 3 Inc. boosted its holdings in Daktronics by 140.0% in the second quarter. Progeny 3 Inc. now owns 1,794,908 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,156 shares during the period. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in Daktronics in the second quarter valued at $1,338,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Daktronics in the third quarter valued at $171,000. 61.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments.