Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.18 EPS

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.18, reports. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 49.91%. The company had revenue of $817.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $826.65 million.

Light & Wonder Price Performance

Shares of Light & Wonder stock opened at $93.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.81. Light & Wonder has a one year low of $76.52 and a one year high of $115.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Light & Wonder from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Light & Wonder in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Light & Wonder in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Light & Wonder from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Light & Wonder presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.36.

Light & Wonder declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Light & Wonder

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Light & Wonder by 239.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 4,542 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Light & Wonder by 33.0% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 3.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 43,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Light & Wonder by 3.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Light & Wonder in the 1st quarter worth about $773,000. 88.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.