Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LFUS. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Littelfuse from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Littelfuse from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Littelfuse from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Littelfuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Littelfuse Price Performance

Shares of LFUS opened at $255.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.27. Littelfuse has a fifty-two week low of $212.80 and a fifty-two week high of $275.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $259.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.90.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $558.49 million for 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 was down 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Littelfuse will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Littelfuse Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This is an increase from Littelfuse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Littelfuse’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.07%.

Insider Transactions at Littelfuse

In related news, SVP Matthew Cole sold 1,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total value of $353,284.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,358,522.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 2,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.65, for a total value of $574,293.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,383,971.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew Cole sold 1,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total value of $353,284.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,358,522.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,028 shares of company stock worth $4,356,035. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Littelfuse

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 16,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Littelfuse by 28.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 239 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Littelfuse by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 323 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

Littelfuse Company Profile

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.