Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at B. Riley

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks.com reports. B. Riley also issued estimates for Light & Wonder’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.17 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.33 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.46 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.42 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.39 EPS.

LNW has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum raised shares of Light & Wonder to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Light & Wonder in a report on Monday, August 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Light & Wonder from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.82.

Light & Wonder Price Performance

LNW stock opened at $96.04 on Monday. Light & Wonder has a 1 year low of $69.93 and a 1 year high of $115.00. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.85, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.48 and a 200 day moving average of $100.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.90, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Light & Wonder (NASDAQ:LNW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.14). Light & Wonder had a return on equity of 40.51% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $818.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. Light & Wonder’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Light & Wonder will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,315,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,307,000 after purchasing an additional 15,902 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 128.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 910,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,472,000 after purchasing an additional 511,081 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 896,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,601,000 after purchasing an additional 438,443 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 1.6% during 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 period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Light & Wonder by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 767,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,320,000 after purchasing an additional 388,781 shares during the period. 88.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.