Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, B. Riley raised shares of Spok from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Spok Price Performance

SPOK stock opened at $16.59 on Wednesday. Spok has a one year low of $13.24 and a one year high of $17.96. The stock has a market cap of $336.31 million, a PE ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.81.

Spok (NASDAQ:SPOK) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $33.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.50 million. On average, research analysts expect that Spok will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spok Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.53%. Spok’s dividend payout ratio is currently 168.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spok

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Spok during the 4th quarter valued at $196,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Spok by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 52,929 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 14,552 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Spok by 30.8% during 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Spok during the 4th quarter valued at $1,253,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Spok by 83.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,075 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 9,115 shares during the last quarter. 50.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Spok

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.