Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) Raised 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 Saturday.

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

Lifetime Brands Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Lifetime Brands stock opened at $5.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $128.95 million, a P/E ratio of -5.97, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.95. Lifetime Brands has a 52-week low of $5.25 and a 52-week high of $11.68.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $183.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.90 million. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 3.19% and a positive return on equity of 3.11%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lifetime Brands will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.043 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.17%.

Institutional Trading of Lifetime Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands during the second quarter worth about $87,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Lifetime Brands by 579.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 11,233 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Lifetime Brands by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 20,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Heron Bay Capital Management boosted 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 acquiring an additional 8,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.62% of the company’s stock.

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.