Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Alight Call Options (NYSE:ALIT)

Key Points

• Alight, Inc. saw an unusually high volume of options trading, with 6,367 call options purchased, marking a 161% increase compared to the average daily volume.
• Several analysts downgraded Alight's price targets, with UBS Group lowering it from $10.00 to $6.50, while the stock retains an average "Buy" rating with a consensus price target of $8.75.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share, representing an annualized yield of 4.5%, despite a negative dividend payout ratio of -7.24%.

Alight, Inc. (NYSE:ALIT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 6,367 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 161% compared to the typical volume of 2,441 call options.

Alight Trading Down 2.0%

Alight stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.35. The stock had a trading volume of 9,962,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,358,110. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $4.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.52 and a beta of 1.01. Alight has a twelve month low of $3.33 and a twelve month high of $8.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Alight (NYSE:ALIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10. The company had revenue of $528.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.26 million. Alight had a negative net margin of 50.37% and a positive return on equity of 6.26%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. Alight has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.580-0.640 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alight will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Alight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -7.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALIT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush lowered their price target on Alight from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Alight from $10.00 to $6.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Alight from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alight has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $8.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alight

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alight by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,429,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548,078 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Alight by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,649,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930,440 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Alight by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 19,626,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,140 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alight by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,115,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,576,000 after purchasing an additional 241,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alight by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,413,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,950,000 after purchasing an additional 135,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.74% of the company's stock.

Alight Company Profile

Alight, Inc provides cloud-based integrated digital human capital and business solutions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Employer Solutions and Professional Services. The Employer Solutions segment offers employee wellbeing, integrated benefits administration, healthcare navigation, financial wellbeing, leave of absence management, retiree healthcare and payroll; and operates AI-led capabilities software.