Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Lifetime Brands from $13.50 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Lifetime Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Lifetime Brands Stock Performance

Shares of LCUT opened at $5.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.63 million, a PE ratio of -7.11, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.14. Lifetime Brands has a 52 week low of $5.11 and a 52 week high of $11.68.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $141.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 million. Lifetime Brands had a positive return on equity of 4.51% and a negative net margin of 2.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lifetime Brands will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $0.043 dividend. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -20.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Lifetime Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $87,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Lifetime Brands by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 108,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 13,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lifetime Brands by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,216,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,449,000 after buying an additional 38,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Lifetime Brands by 88.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 161,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 75,475 shares during the period. 40.62% of the stock is currently 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.