Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Benchmark raised its price target on Lionsgate from $12 to $15 and maintained a buy rating, triggering a pre-market gap up from $11.43 to a $12.50 open and heavy intraday volume (~1.01M shares).
• Analyst coverage is mixed: the MarketBeat consensus is a Hold with a target of $11.11, comprising seven Buys, five Holds and one Sell, showing divergent views despite recent upgrades.
• Lionsgate recently missed EPS expectations (reported -$0.07 vs. -$0.02 est.) while beating revenue ($724.3M vs. $706.0M), and the company carries a negative P/E with a market cap of about $3.42 billion.

Lionsgate Studios Corp. (NYSE:LION - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $15.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.43, but opened at $12.50. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lionsgate Studios shares last traded at $12.08, with a volume of 1,007,949 shares changing hands.

LION has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lionsgate Studios from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Lionsgate Studios from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lionsgate Studios from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lionsgate Studios

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Lionsgate Studios by 201.3% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 225,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 150,472 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lionsgate Studios in the third quarter valued at about $1,357,000. Compass Rose Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Lionsgate Studios in the third quarter valued at about $3,450,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Lionsgate Studios by 143.2% in the third quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 220,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 129,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP raised its stake in Lionsgate Studios by 5.7% in the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 7,013,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,394,000 after purchasing an additional 379,388 shares in the last quarter.

Lionsgate Studios Stock Up 3.1%

The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.86 and a beta of -0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.84 and a 200 day moving average of $8.58.

Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $724.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.03 million. As a group, analysts predict that Lionsgate Studios Corp. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios, operating under the ticker NYSE:LION, is a leading global entertainment company specializing in the production, acquisition and distribution of motion pictures, television programming and digital content. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and with additional operations in Vancouver, the company develops, finances and markets feature films that span a wide range of genres—from major franchise hits like The Hunger Games and John Wick to independent and specialty titles.

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