Ondas (NASDAQ:ONDS) Stock Jumps 2.7% – Still a Buy?

Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS)’s stock price shot up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $7.73 and last traded at $7.60. 113,999,889 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 38% from the average session volume of 82,325,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.40.

Ondas News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ondas this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ondas announced a busy acquisition period involving five defense technology businesses, significantly broadening its autonomous defense platform. The deals add capabilities in AI-enabled sensing, resilient communications, remote operations and GPS-independent navigation. Ondas Acquisition Spree
• Positive Sentiment: The centerpiece is a roughly $56 million purchase of three defense technology companies. Caribou Labs adds acoustic intelligence for detecting and tracking drones, while Ottopia’s defense business contributes remote and autonomous vehicle technology. The acquisitions could create an integrated autonomous-warfare and counter-drone product portfolio. ONDS $56 Million Defense Bet
• Neutral Sentiment: ONDS is appearing in discussions of stocks with elevated short interest, raising the possibility of increased volatility or short-covering if acquisition momentum continues. However, another report showed zero reported short interest and a zero-day short-interest ratio, suggesting the available data may be inconsistent or reflect different reporting dates. Squeeze Watch
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Neil Laird sold 4,952 shares for approximately $38,328, reducing his holdings by 10.49%. Although he retained 42,246 shares, the insider sale may weigh modestly on sentiment. CFO Insider Sale
• Negative Sentiment: The acquisition spree increases integration, financing and execution risks. Ondas remains unprofitable, and investors will need evidence that the acquired technologies generate sustainable revenue without increasing cash needs or losses.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ONDS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their target price on shares of Ondas from $21.50 to $22.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Ondas from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ondas in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ondas from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ondas from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ondas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.18.

Ondas Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of -109.14 and a beta of 2.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.02 and a 200 day moving average of $9.00.

Ondas (NASDAQ:ONDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.10). Ondas had a net margin of 93.55% and a negative return on equity of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $83.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.97 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ondas Holdings Inc. will post -0.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ondas

In other Ondas news, Director Richard Cohen sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total transaction of $67,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 261,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,346,050.56. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Neil Laird sold 4,952 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.74, for a total value of $38,328.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 42,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $326,984.04. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ondas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ONDS. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Ondas during the second quarter worth approximately $330,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Ondas during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,294,000. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ondas by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,787,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,353 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ondas by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 13,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Ondas by 63.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Tichoniim Havera Menahelet LTD now owns 1,016,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,380,000 after purchasing an additional 393,133 shares during the period. 37.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ondas

Ondas Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ONDS) develops autonomous systems and private wireless network technologies for industrial, government and critical-infrastructure applications. Its businesses are focused on collecting and transmitting data in environments where conventional communications or manually operated systems may be limited.

Through its autonomous systems activities, including American Robotics and other related platforms, Ondas provides autonomous drone solutions for applications such as agriculture, infrastructure inspection, public safety and security.