Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.72 and traded as high as $9.68. Lifetime Brands shares last traded at $9.26, with a volume of 176,053 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LCUT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Lifetime Brands from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lifetime Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lifetime Brands has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.00.

Lifetime Brands Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $211.59 million, a PE ratio of -7.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $6.67 and its 200-day moving average is $4.72.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.22. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $143.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.58 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lifetime Brands, Inc. will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Lifetime Brands’s payout ratio is -13.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LCUT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Lifetime Brands by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 908,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,634,000 after buying an additional 130,650 shares during the period. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lifetime Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $381,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Lifetime Brands by 388.4% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 41,191 shares during the period. JB Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Lifetime Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 1,627,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,430,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Lifetime Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.62% of the company’s stock.

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.