nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $36.59 and last traded at $34.4560, with a volume of 347955 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.79.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on nLight from $33.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of nLight from $26.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.67.

Insider Activity at nLight

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,864,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,130,000 after purchasing an additional 747,958 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in nLight by 4.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 319,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 14,724 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter worth $436,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC raised its holdings in nLight by 4.0% in the third quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 84,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Up 14.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.41, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.82 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. nLight had a negative return on equity of 17.18% and a negative net margin of 19.13%.The firm had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About nLight

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.