Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires 21,036 Shares of Light & Wonder, Inc. $LNW

Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,714 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,036 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC owned about 0.18% of Light & Wonder worth $14,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its position in Light & Wonder by 56.7% in the first quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,174,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,728,000 after purchasing an additional 425,202 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Light & Wonder by 63.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in Light & Wonder by 141.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 38,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 22,806 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its position in Light & Wonder by 463.6% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 10,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Light & Wonder in the first quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors own 88.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Light & Wonder from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Light & Wonder from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $95.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Light & Wonder from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Light & Wonder from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.86.

Light & Wonder Price Performance

Shares of Light & Wonder stock opened at $75.85 on Friday. Light & Wonder, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.56 and a twelve month high of $113.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.45.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $809.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.29 million. Light & Wonder had a net margin of 10.89% and a return on equity of 71.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that Light & Wonder, Inc. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Hamish Mclennan purchased 1,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $87.61 per share, with a total value of $120,901.80. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,951.80. This trade represents a 27.60% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Antonia Korsanos purchased 8,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.05 per share, for a total transaction of $645,603.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,815 shares in the company, valued at $1,826,340.75. The trade was a 54.68% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 37,756 shares of company stock valued at $3,209,088 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Light & Wonder Company Profile

Light & Wonder, Inc is a cross-platform global games company, which engages in the development of content and digital markets. It operates through the following segments: Gaming, SciPlay, and iGaming. The Gaming segment includes the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of portfolio of gaming products and services.