Lazard Asset Management LLC Makes New $697,000 Investment in Richardson Electronics, Ltd. $RELL

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Richardson Electronics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RELL) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 63,614 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Richardson Electronics by 13.9% during the first quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 671,998 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,358,000 after acquiring an additional 82,054 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Richardson Electronics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 243,427 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,648,000 after purchasing an additional 4,629 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Richardson Electronics in the first quarter valued at $1,095,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Richardson Electronics by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 92,426 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Richardson Electronics by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 85,081 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 5,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Richardson Electronics

In other news, EVP Jens Frank Ruppert sold 37,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.01, for a total transaction of $712,875.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $38,020. The trade was a 94.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Kluge sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total transaction of $519,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $919,433.50. This represents a 36.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,687. Insiders own 33.40% of the company’s stock.

Richardson Electronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RELL opened at $20.98 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $305.47 million, a PE ratio of 47.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. Richardson Electronics, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.37 and a fifty-two week high of $23.15.

Richardson Electronics (NASDAQ:RELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $66.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.37 million. Richardson Electronics had a return on equity of 3.55% and a net margin of 2.79%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Richardson Electronics, Ltd. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Richardson Electronics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Richardson Electronics’s payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RELL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Richardson Electronics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Richardson Electronics in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded shares of Richardson Electronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

About Richardson Electronics

Richardson Electronics, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RELL) is a global manufacturer, distributor and servicer of engineered components and subsystems for a diverse range of industrial, medical and scientific applications. The company specializes in vacuum electron devices, high-voltage power supplies and related electronic components, offering klystrons, traveling wave tubes, magnetrons, X-ray tubes, microwave amplifiers and power conversion products. Its solutions support customers in power grid management, semiconductor processing, medical imaging, scientific instrumentation and telecommunications.

In addition to its manufacturing capabilities, Richardson Electronics maintains a broad distribution network comprising thousands of standard and custom parts.