Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) Short Interest Update

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 375,698 shares, a growth of 248.9% from the February 26th total of 107,685 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 641,302 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Lifetime Brands Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:LCUT opened at $4.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.72. Lifetime Brands has a one year low of $2.89 and a one year high of $5.46. The firm has a market cap of $106.00 million, a P/E ratio of -3.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.85.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $204.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.09 million. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 4.16% and a positive return on equity of 4.66%. Equities analysts anticipate that Lifetime Brands will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.0425 dividend. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. Lifetime Brands’s payout ratio is presently -13.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LCUT. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Lifetime Brands by 7.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 108,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN lifted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 1.3% during the second quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 525,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 6,943 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 1,577,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,968,000 after buying an additional 130,231 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lifetime Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, RBF Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lifetime Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,054,000. 40.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LCUT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $3.50 price objective on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lifetime Brands in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lifetime Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lifetime Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.25.

About Lifetime Brands

Lifetime Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, sources, manufactures and distributes a broad portfolio of consumer products for the home. Headquartered in Garden City, New York, the company operates three primary business segments—Kitchenware, Tabletop & Home Décor and Tools & Storage—providing solutions for food preparation, cooking, serving and storage under both proprietary and licensed brand names.

In the Kitchenware segment, Lifetime Brands offers cookware, bakeware, cutlery and small electric appliances under brands such as Farberware and Chef’sChoice.