Traders Purchase Large Volume of Lionsgate Studios Call Options (NYSE:LION)

Lionsgate Studios Corp. (NYSE:LION) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 11,829 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 202% compared to the typical volume of 3,913 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lionsgate Studios by 201.3% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 225,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 150,472 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lionsgate Studios in the third quarter valued at $1,357,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lionsgate Studios in the third quarter valued at $2,749,000. Compass Rose Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Lionsgate Studios in the third quarter valued at $3,450,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in Lionsgate Studios during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,377,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LION. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lionsgate Studios from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Benchmark increased their target price on Lionsgate Studios from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lionsgate Studios from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lionsgate Studios in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.05.

Lionsgate Studios Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE LION traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.60. 379,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,437,379. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.29 and a beta of -0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.08. Lionsgate Studios has a 52-week low of $5.55 and a 52-week high of $11.02.

Lionsgate Studios (NYSE:LION) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $724.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.03 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lionsgate Studios will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Lionsgate Studios Company Profile

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.