Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) Upgraded by B. Riley to “Buy” Rating

B. Riley upgraded shares of Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the Wireless communications provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $15.00.

Spok Price Performance

SPOK stock opened at $16.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.76. Spok has a fifty-two week low of $13.24 and a fifty-two week high of $18.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.41 million, a PE ratio of 23.21 and a beta of 0.33.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Spok had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 10.66%. The business had revenue of $33.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.50 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Spok will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spok Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Spok’s dividend payout ratio is presently 168.92%.

Institutional Trading of Spok

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Spok by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,837 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Spok by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,116 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spok by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,269 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Spok by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,791 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Spok by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.81% of the company’s stock.

Spok Company Profile

Spok Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, Spok, Inc, provides healthcare communication solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. The company's products and services enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. It delivers clinical information to care teams when and where it matters to enhance patient outcomes; and provides GenA Pager, a one-way alphanumeric pager.