Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target for nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) from $14.00 to $27.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.10% from the current price and maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.
• Other analysts also increased their price targets, with Needham & Company setting a target of $28.00, and the average target across several analysts now sitting at $26.10, reflecting bullish sentiment.
• nLight's stock rose 22.0% during midday trading, reaching $24.98, as the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with revenue up 22.2% year-over-year.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $14.00 to $27.50 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.10% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "speculative buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $26.10.

nLight Stock Up 22.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR traded up $4.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,144,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,081. nLight has a 1-year low of $6.20 and a 1-year high of $27.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -22.10 and a beta of 2.35. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 5.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business's 50 day moving average price is $18.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.87.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. nLight had a negative return on equity of 22.23% and a negative net margin of 26.80%. The firm had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 10,062 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.62, for a total transaction of $177,292.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,931,298.44. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 33,682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total value of $657,809.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,206,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,563,726.20. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,915 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,301. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of nLight by 147.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in nLight by 3,951.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,687 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,596 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 162.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter worth approximately $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications.

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