Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI)

Hesai Group Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:HSAI) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 4,920 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 82% compared to the typical volume of 2,709 call options.

Hesai Group Price Performance

Shares of HSAI traded up $2.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.65. 1,941,079 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,598,430. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.97 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.49 and a 200-day moving average of $23.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.37 and a current ratio of 5.75. Hesai Group has a 52 week low of $10.41 and a 52 week high of $30.85.

Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.14. Hesai Group had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 15.70%.The firm had revenue of $111.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.11 million. On average, analysts forecast that Hesai Group will post -0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HSAI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hesai Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Hesai Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $23.50 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hesai Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Hesai Group from $26.30 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hesai Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HSAI. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hesai Group during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hesai Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hesai Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $108,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Hesai Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,000. Finally, JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its position in Hesai Group by 117.6% in the second quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. 48.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hesai Group

Hesai Group is a technology company specializing in the development and production of advanced LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors and perception software platforms for autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial automation and mapping applications. The company’s core business centers on delivering high-performance, high-reliability LiDAR solutions designed to enable precise three-dimensional sensing and real-time environment perception. Hesai’s product lineup spans mechanical rotating LiDAR units, solid-state and MEMS-based sensors, as well as integrated software stacks for object detection, tracking and data fusion.

Founded in 2014 by a team of laser sensing and robotics researchers, Hesai built its reputation on improving range, resolution and reliability of LiDAR systems while driving down cost and size.