Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Novanta Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVT) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $98.27 and last traded at $98.5950, with a volume of 52334 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $99.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novanta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Novanta from $139.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novanta from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novanta from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novanta currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Novanta Stock Down 0.3%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 58.44 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Novanta (NASDAQ:NOVT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The technology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $247.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.95 million. Novanta had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 6.41%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Novanta has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.240-3.300 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.870-0.930 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novanta Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novanta announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 18th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Novanta

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOVT. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Novanta by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,376 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novanta by 29.0% in the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Novanta by 1.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,632 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Novanta by 80.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 414 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its position in Novanta by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,079 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

About Novanta

Novanta, Inc engages in the provision of core technology solutions to healthcare and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers. It operates through the following segments: Photonics, Vision, and Precision Motion. The Photonics segment designs, manufactures, and markets photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and laser beam delivery, CO2 laser, continuous wave and ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products.