Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Littelfuse from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Littelfuse from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Littelfuse from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $278.75.

Littelfuse Stock Up 4.6 %

NASDAQ LFUS opened at $264.55 on Monday. Littelfuse has a 52 week low of $212.80 and a 52 week high of $275.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $258.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.02.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $558.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.35 million. Littelfuse had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Littelfuse will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Littelfuse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Littelfuse’s payout ratio is 32.07%.

Insider Activity at Littelfuse

In other Littelfuse news, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 300 shares of Littelfuse stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,295,683.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 2,091 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.65, for a total value of $574,293.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 59,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,383,971.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,654 shares in the company, valued at $16,295,683.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,328 shares of company stock valued at $4,437,986. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Littelfuse

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Littelfuse by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,679,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $649,442,000 after buying an additional 17,119 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Littelfuse during the 4th quarter worth about $150,004,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Littelfuse by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 501,504 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $128,179,000 after purchasing an additional 58,529 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Littelfuse by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 444,654 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,649,000 after purchasing an additional 10,406 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Littelfuse by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 419,586 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,244,000 after purchasing an additional 49,588 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors.