Genius Sports (NYSE:GENI) Stock Price Up 12.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Genius Sports shares surged by 12.3% to close at $11.42 during trading, despite a 42% drop in trading volume compared to the average.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for the stock, with an average price target of $12.72, indicating positive sentiment towards its future performance.
• The company has initiated a $100 million share buyback program, signaling confidence in its stock value and a commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Genius Sports Limited (NYSE:GENI - Get Free Report) shares rose 12.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $11.27 and last traded at $11.42. Approximately 2,322,662 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 3,980,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GENI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Genius Sports in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Northland Capmk raised Genius Sports to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Genius Sports in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Genius Sports in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Genius Sports in a report on Monday, April 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $12.72.

Genius Sports Trading Up 3.8%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.47 and a beta of 1.86.

Genius Sports (NYSE:GENI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $143.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $143.31 million. Genius Sports had a negative return on equity of 6.90% and a negative net margin of 8.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Genius Sports Limited will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genius Sports announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Genius Sports

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP increased its position in Genius Sports by 32,386.5% in the 4th quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 3,551,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,540,818 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Genius Sports in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,712,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Genius Sports in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,280,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Genius Sports by 1,579.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,766,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601,453 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Genius Sports by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,244,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076,590 shares during the period. 81.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Genius Sports

Genius Sports Limited engages in the development and sale of technology-led products and services to the sports, sports betting, and sports media industries. It offers technology infrastructure for the collection, integration, and distribution of live data of sports leagues; streaming solutions comprising technology, automatic production, and distribution for sports to commercialize video footage of their games; and end-to-end integrity services to sports leagues, such as full-time active monitoring technology, which uses mathematical algorithms to identify and flag suspicious betting activity in global betting markets, as well as a full suite of online and offline educational and consultancy services.