Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Strong Earnings

Shares of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $152.75 and last traded at $137.27, with a volume of 68479 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.93.

The medical instruments supplier reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.66. Mesa Laboratories had a positive return on equity of 28.52% and a negative net margin of 107.56%.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Mesa Laboratories by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 573,037 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,566,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,677,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,809,000 after purchasing an additional 18,128 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 191,976 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,732 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 165,955 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $19,722,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Trading Up 2.0 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $769.74 million, a P/E ratio of -3.11 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment offers biological, chemical, and cleaning indicators, used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization decontamination, disinfection, and cleaning processes in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare industries.