nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of nLight reached a new 52-week high of $74.72 (last around $74.62), trading well above its 50-day ($62.08) and 200-day ($45.68) moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive—one Strong Buy, nine Buy, one Hold and one Sell—giving an average rating of Moderate Buy
• nLight beat the last quarter's EPS and revenue (EPS $0.14 vs. $0.11 est.; revenue $81.19M vs. $76.71M) with revenue up 71.3% year-over-year, but the company remains unprofitable (negative net margin and ROE) and analysts forecast -$0.44 EPS for the current year.

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $74.72 and last traded at $74.6160, with a volume of 205915 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LASR. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird began coverage on nLight in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.19.

nLight Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $62.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -157.23 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 71.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other news, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 95,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,930,005.72. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Link sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $627,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 92,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,812,847.04. This trade represents a 9.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 130,780 shares of company stock valued at $8,032,729 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLight

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in nLight by 155.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in nLight by 7,871.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in nLight by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLight Company Profile

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. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.

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