Zacks Research Downgrades Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) to Hold

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Light & Wonder from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $116.00 target price on shares of Light & Wonder in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Light & Wonder from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $108.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Light & Wonder presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.10.

Light & Wonder Price Performance

Shares of LNW opened at $90.02 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.99. Light & Wonder has a fifty-two week low of $69.56 and a fifty-two week high of $115.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.86, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.14. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 71.17%. The firm had revenue of $809.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Light & Wonder will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jamie Odell bought 8,275 shares of Light & Wonder stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $78.81 per share, with a total value of $652,152.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $652,152.75. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hamish Mclennan bought 1,380 shares of Light & Wonder stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $87.61 per share, for a total transaction of $120,901.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,951.80. This trade represents a 27.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 37,756 shares of company stock valued at $3,209,088 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 4,783.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 198.9% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Light & Wonder during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Light & Wonder during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 118.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

About Light & Wonder

Light & Wonder, Inc is a cross-platform global games company, which engages in the development of content and digital markets. It operates through the following segments: Gaming, SciPlay, and iGaming. The Gaming segment includes the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of portfolio of gaming products and services.