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 note published on Tuesday.

Separately, DA Davidson lowered Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $11.50 to $6.75 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Lifetime Brands Price Performance

Shares of LCUT stock opened at $5.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.90. The company has a market capitalization of $120.31 million, a PE ratio of -5.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.35. Lifetime Brands has a twelve month low of $4.70 and a twelve month high of $11.68. 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 (NASDAQ:LCUT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 3.19% and a positive return on equity of 3.13%. The company had revenue of $215.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.60 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lifetime Brands will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.0425 per share. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -23.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Lifetime Brands by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 4,824 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 5,302 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 21,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 9,932 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 34,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 10,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.