PowerFleet (NASDAQ:AIOT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

PowerFleet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIOT)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.83, but opened at $4.06. PowerFleet shares last traded at $4.4040, with a volume of 487,400 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AIOT. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of PowerFleet from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of PowerFleet from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised PowerFleet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $7.00 price target on PowerFleet in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.67.

PowerFleet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.03. The firm has a market cap of $588.38 million, a PE ratio of -27.66 and a beta of 1.43.

PowerFleet (NASDAQ:AIOT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 15th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $114.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.98 million. PowerFleet had a negative net margin of 4.63% and a negative return on equity of 1.33%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PowerFleet, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PowerFleet declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 30th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of PowerFleet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in PowerFleet during the second quarter worth about $6,426,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PowerFleet by 292.3% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,970,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468,573 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in PowerFleet by 1,644.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,530,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442,989 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in PowerFleet by 635.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,398,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,252 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC increased its position in PowerFleet by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 3,312,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.40% of the company’s stock.

About PowerFleet

PowerFleet, Inc (NASDAQ: AIOT) develops and delivers Internet of Things (IoT)–based telematics and asset-tracking solutions designed to help businesses monitor, manage and optimize fleets of vehicles and industrial equipment. Its core offerings include wireless sensors, GPS tracking devices and cloud-hosted software platforms that provide real-time visibility into vehicle whereabouts, usage patterns, fuel consumption and maintenance needs. The company’s systems also support regulatory compliance and safety monitoring, enabling customers to reduce operational costs, minimize theft and improve overall asset utilization.

The company’s hardware portfolio features RFID readers, active and passive tags, onboard diagnostics (OBD) adapters and temperature or motion sensors that can be deployed on trucks, trailers, forklifts, containers and other high-value assets.