Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.32 and last traded at $15.06, with a volume of 40983034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NOK shares. Nordea Equity Research upgraded Nokia from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Nokia in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America upgraded Nokia from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.40 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Nokia in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Nokia in a research note on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.71.

Nokia Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.06. The firm has a market cap of $90.04 billion, a PE ratio of 98.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter. Nokia had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Nokia Corporation will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nokia Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.0468 per share. This is a boost from Nokia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nokia’s payout ratio is currently 81.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nokia during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,106,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Nokia by 105.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,434,347 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $19,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248,249 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Nokia in the 1st quarter valued at about $369,000. Atreides Management LP bought a new position in shares of Nokia in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,955,000. Finally, Opal Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nokia by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Opal Capital LLC now owns 394,270 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 48,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.28% of the company’s stock.

Nokia Company Profile

Nokia Corporation, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is a global telecommunications and technology company with roots dating back to 1865. Over its long history the company moved from forestry and cable operations into electronics and telecommunications, becoming widely known in the 1990s and 2000s for its mobile phones. In recent years Nokia refocused its business toward network infrastructure, software and technology licensing, and research and development, following the divestiture of its handset manufacturing business and the acquisition of Alcatel‑Lucent in 2016, which brought Bell Labs into its portfolio.

Today Nokia’s core activities center on designing, building and supporting communications networks and related software.