Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $92.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $112.68, but opened at $92.68. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Light & Wonder shares last traded at $93.94, with a volume of 244,750 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Light & Wonder in a report on Monday, August 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Light & Wonder from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 price target on shares of Light & Wonder in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Light & Wonder

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Light & Wonder by 67.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Light & Wonder in the second quarter worth about $542,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 25.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 4,190 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Light & Wonder by 47.2% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Light & Wonder during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,597,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

Light & Wonder Trading Down 16.6 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.90.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.14). Light & Wonder had a return on equity of 40.51% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $818.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Light & Wonder, Inc. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Light & Wonder announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Light & Wonder

Light & Wonder, Inc operates as a cross-platform games company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Gaming, SciPlay, and iGaming segments. The Gaming segment sells game content and gaming machine; video gaming terminals; video lottery terminals, including conversion kits and spare parts; and table products, including automatic card shufflers, deck checkers, table roulette chip sorters and other land-based table gaming equipment.