Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 318,466 shares, a growth of 108.3% from the April 30th total of 152,921 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 139,587 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Lifetime Brands Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:LCUT opened at $9.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Lifetime Brands has a 52-week low of $2.90 and a 52-week high of $9.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.84. The company has a market capitalization of $209.31 million, a P/E ratio of -7.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.00.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.22. Lifetime Brands had a positive return on equity of 8.01% and a negative net margin of 4.22%.The business had revenue of $143.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.58 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lifetime Brands will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a $0.0425 dividend. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -13.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LCUT has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Zacks Research raised Lifetime Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Lifetime Brands from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Lifetime Brands in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Institutional Trading of Lifetime Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LCUT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 16.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 908,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,634,000 after acquiring an additional 130,650 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands in the third quarter valued at $381,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 388.4% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 41,191 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 1,627,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,430,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands in the third quarter valued at $118,000. 40.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lifetime Brands Company Profile

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.