StockNews.com Upgrades Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Lifetime Brands from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Lifetime Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Lifetime Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LCUT traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.02. 82,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 65,661. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.40 million, a P/E ratio of -7.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Lifetime Brands has a 1 year low of $5.25 and a 1 year high of $11.68.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.01). Lifetime Brands had a positive return on equity of 4.51% and a negative net margin of 2.58%. The company had revenue of $141.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lifetime Brands will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.043 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -20.99%.

Institutional Trading of Lifetime Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 4,824 shares during the period. Heron Bay Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 81.1% in the 1st quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 18,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 8,369 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Lifetime Brands by 579.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 11,233 shares during the last quarter. 40.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lifetime Brands

Lifetime Brands, Inc designs, sources, and sells branded kitchenware, tableware, and other products for use in the home in the worldwide. The company provides kitchenware products, including kitchen tools and gadgets, cutlery, kitchen scales, thermometers, cutting boards, shears, cookware, pantryware, spice racks, and bakeware; and tableware products comprising dinnerware, stemware, flatware, and giftware.