Short Interest in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) Rises By 21.4%

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 556,900 shares, an increase of 21.4% from the August 15th total of 458,600 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 124,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Littelfuse Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of LFUS stock traded up $5.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $250.01. 86,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,046. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.28. Littelfuse has a 12-month low of $212.80 and a 12-month high of $275.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $558.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.35 million. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Littelfuse will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Littelfuse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Littelfuse’s dividend payout ratio is 32.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Littelfuse news, SVP Matthew Cole sold 1,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total transaction of $353,284.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,522.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 8,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.40, for a total value of $2,391,396.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,369,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Cole sold 1,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total transaction of $353,284.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,358,522.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,328 shares of company stock worth $4,437,986. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Littelfuse

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 0.3% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 16,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Littelfuse by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Littelfuse by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 469 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 3.8% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 1,626 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LFUS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Littelfuse from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Littelfuse from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Littelfuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Littelfuse presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.75.

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.