Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $102.50, but opened at $91.57. Light & Wonder shares last traded at $94.05, with a volume of 112,963 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on LNW shares. Craig Hallum raised shares of Light & Wonder to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Light & Wonder in a report on Monday, August 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Light & Wonder in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.36.

Light & Wonder Trading Up 0.9 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $98.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.90. The company has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.75.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 50.89%. The company had revenue of $817.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $826.65 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Light & Wonder, Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Light & Wonder announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 7th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Light & Wonder

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Light & Wonder by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,452,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,745,000 after buying an additional 324,088 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,315,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,307,000 after purchasing an additional 15,902 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 128.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 910,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,472,000 after purchasing an additional 511,081 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Light & Wonder by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 802,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,215,000 after purchasing an additional 12,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 102.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 767,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,320,000 after buying an additional 388,781 shares during the period. 88.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Light & Wonder

Light & Wonder, Inc operates as a cross-platform games company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Gaming, SciPlay, and iGaming segments. The Gaming segment sells game content and gaming machine; video gaming terminals; video lottery terminals, including conversion kits and spare parts; and table products, including automatic card shufflers, deck checkers, table roulette chip sorters and other land-based table gaming equipment.