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 report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Lifetime Brands from $14.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective 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 NASDAQ:LCUT opened at $5.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Lifetime Brands has a 52 week low of $5.25 and a 52 week high of $11.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.92 and its 200-day moving average is $6.61.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $183.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.90 million. Lifetime Brands had a positive return on equity of 3.13% and a negative net margin of 3.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lifetime Brands will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.043 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LCUT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lifetime Brands by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 294,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Lifetime Brands by 38.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Lifetime Brands by 28.5% in the second 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 period. JB Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Lifetime Brands by 13.0% in the third quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 940,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,106,000 after purchasing an additional 108,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 22.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 151,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 28,104 shares during the period. 40.62% of the stock is 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.