Robert W. Baird Initiates Coverage on nLight (NASDAQ:LASR)

Equities researchers at Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 50.63% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on nLight from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.31.

nLight Stock Down 6.8%

LASR stock opened at $63.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -134.19 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a twelve month low of $6.20 and a twelve month high of $68.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.15. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.40% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The business’s revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,126,855.68. This trade represents a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,285,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,711,100.20. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 113,194 shares of company stock valued at $4,138,841 in the last 90 days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in nLight by 377.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,327,000 after purchasing an additional 835,720 shares during the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of nLight during the third quarter valued at approximately $22,809,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 18.2% during 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. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of nLight by 537.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,711,000 after acquiring an additional 532,470 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.