Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $73.43, but opened at $81.71. Light & Wonder shares last traded at $80.3310, with a volume of 702,661 shares traded.

The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $841.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.97 million. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 71.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LNW shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Light & Wonder from $95.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Light & Wonder from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Light & Wonder from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Macquarie lowered their price target on Light & Wonder from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Light & Wonder has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.14.

Insider Transactions at Light & Wonder

In other Light & Wonder news, Director Hamish Mclennan bought 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $87.61 per share, with a total value of $120,901.80. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,951.80. This represents a 27.60% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Throsby purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $89.37 per share, for a total transaction of $1,787,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 42,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,760,868.34. This represents a 90.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders acquired 29,481 shares of company stock valued at $2,556,936. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Light & Wonder

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Light & Wonder by 198.9% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Light & Wonder during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Light & Wonder during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Light & Wonder by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of Light & Wonder by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. 88.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Light & Wonder Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.86, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.42.

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.