Short Interest in Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR) Grows By 11.4%

Luminar Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAZR) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 90,760,000 shares, an increase of 11.4% from the July 31st total of 81,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Luminar Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAZR. Invst LLC acquired a new position in shares of Luminar Technologies in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Luminar Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Luminar Technologies by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 131,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 25,939 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Luminar Technologies by 163.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20,383 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Luminar Technologies in the second quarter valued at $105,000. 30.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Luminar Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAZR opened at $1.02 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.64 million, a P/E ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 1.62. Luminar Technologies has a 52 week low of $0.79 and a 52 week high of $6.09.

Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $16.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.37) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Luminar Technologies will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAZR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Luminar Technologies from $9.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Luminar Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Luminar Technologies from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Luminar Technologies from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Luminar Technologies from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.17.

About Luminar Technologies

Luminar Technologies, Inc, an automotive technology company, provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It operates in two segments, Autonomy Solutions and Advanced Technologies and Services. The Autonomy Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and sells laser imaging, detection, and ranging sensors or lidars, as well as related perception and autonomy software solutions primarily for original equipment manufacturers in the automobile, commercial vehicle, robo-taxi, and adjacent industries.