nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is positive: nLight has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from 12 covering brokerages, with a consensus 1-year target price of about $69.06. Most analysts rate the stock a buy or strong buy.
• Recent earnings beat expectations: The company reported $0.20 EPS versus the expected $0.08 and posted $80.18 million in revenue, topping estimates and rising 55.2% from the same quarter last year.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CEO Scott H. Keeney and CAO James Nias both sold stock recently, and insiders sold 439,705 shares worth about $30.85 million over the last three months.

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.0625.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. William Blair assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total transaction of $29,502.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 98,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,006,701.49. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 41,371 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.36, for a total transaction of $3,034,976.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,210,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,127,727.44. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 439,705 shares of company stock valued at $30,847,998. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of nLight by 161,736.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 79,300 shares of the company's stock worth $2,350,000 after acquiring an additional 79,251 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of nLight by 6,151.0% in the 3rd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 41,819 shares of the company's stock worth $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 41,150 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $187,166,000 after buying an additional 125,446 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 103,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,900,000 after buying an additional 19,435 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

nLight Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $76.39 on Thursday. nLight has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $86.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -254.62 and a beta of 2.31.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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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