Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Light & Wonder, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from thirteen brokerages, with an average price target of $104.11.
• Insider trading activity indicated significant purchases, with Director Hamish Mclennan acquiring 1,380 shares and Director Timothy Throsby buying 20,000 shares, reflecting increased confidence in the company.
• In its latest earnings report, Light & Wonder posted $1.58 EPS, surpassing estimates, but reported a revenue decline of 1.1% year-over-year.

Shares of Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $104.1111.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LNW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Light & Wonder from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Light & Wonder from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Light & Wonder from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Light & Wonder in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Light & Wonder from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th.

Light & Wonder Stock Performance

LNW stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $88.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,800,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,016,546. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.86. Light & Wonder has a 1 year low of $69.56 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.74.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $809.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.29 million. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 71.17%. Light & Wonder's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Light & Wonder will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Light & Wonder news, Director Antonia Korsanos purchased 8,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.05 per share, for a total transaction of $645,603.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 22,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,826,340.75. This represents a 54.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Throsby purchased 20,000 shares of the business'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 acquisition, the director directly owned 42,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,868.34. This trade represents a 90.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 37,756 shares of company stock valued at $3,209,088 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Light & Wonder

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Light & Wonder by 198.9% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 269 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Light & Wonder by 4,783.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Light & Wonder in the second quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Light & Wonder in the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Light & Wonder by 118.5% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 437 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.08% of the company's stock.

Light & Wonder Company Profile

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.