nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $40.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. nLight traded as high as $36.59 and last traded at $34.4560, with a volume of 347955 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.79.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on nLight from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “speculative buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 38,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total transaction of $1,083,054.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,726,508.22. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total transaction of $1,937,091.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,319,038 shares in the company, valued at $71,866,987.62. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 374,980 shares of company stock valued at $10,650,501. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 114,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in nLight by 140.4% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,383,000 after acquiring an additional 705,215 shares during the last quarter. AMH Equity Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of nLight in the first quarter valued at about $932,000. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of nLight by 5.4% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 3,034,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,575,000 after purchasing an additional 156,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of nLight by 515.8% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 229,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 191,954 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLight Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a current ratio of 5.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.39 and a 200-day moving average of $22.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.73 and a beta of 2.48.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. nLight had a negative return on equity of 19.12% and a negative net margin of 21.66%.The company had revenue of $61.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. nLight’s revenue was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.