Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Lionsgate Studios Corp. (NYSE:LION) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.50 and last traded at $9.46, with a volume of 1526174 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LION. Zacks Research raised shares of Lionsgate Studios from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.50 target price on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on Lionsgate Studios from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lionsgate Studios currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.14.

Lionsgate Studios Stock Up 3.1%

The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.21 and a beta of -0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.95.

Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.14). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lionsgate Studios Corp. will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Raymond Burns sold 21,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.01, for a total transaction of $195,949.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,061,213 shares in the company, valued at $27,581,529.13. This trade represents a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lionsgate Studios

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lionsgate Studios by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 60,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 1,743 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Lionsgate Studios by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. raised its holdings in Lionsgate Studios by 11.4% in the third quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 19,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Lionsgate Studios by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 113,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Lionsgate Studios during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000.

About Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios, operating under the ticker NYSE:LION, is a leading global entertainment company specializing in the production, acquisition and distribution of motion pictures, television programming and digital content. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and with additional operations in Vancouver, the company develops, finances and markets feature films that span a wide range of genres—from major franchise hits like The Hunger Games and John Wick to independent and specialty titles.