Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Raised to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) was upgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $82.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $96.00. Raymond James’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.38% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LITE. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Lumentum from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Lumentum from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.40.

Lumentum Stock Performance

Shares of LITE stock opened at $71.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 4.76 and a quick ratio of 3.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.24 and a beta of 1.03. Lumentum has a 12 month low of $38.29 and a 12 month high of $104.00.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.41). Lumentum had a negative return on equity of 7.25% and a negative net margin of 36.98%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lumentum will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Wajid Ali sold 2,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.34, for a total value of $170,154.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,071,799.84. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the third quarter valued at about $4,127,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in Lumentum during the 4th quarter valued at about $646,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lumentum during the 4th quarter worth about $739,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Lumentum by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 186,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,827,000 after acquiring an additional 37,000 shares during the period. Finally, West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lumentum in the third quarter valued at approximately $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.05% of the company’s stock.

Lumentum Company Profile

Lumentum Holdings Inc manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through two segments: Optical Communications (OpComms) and Commercial Lasers (Lasers). The OpComms segment offers components, modules, and subsystems that enable the transmission and transport of video, audio, and data over high-capacity fiber optic cables.