Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) Short Interest Up 108.3% in May

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) saw a large growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average trading volume of 139,587 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LCUT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lifetime Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Lifetime Brands in a report on Monday, May 11th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 0.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 913,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 7.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lifetime Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 243,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 8,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Lifetime Brands by 0.6% during the third quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 1,587,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.62% of the company’s stock.

Lifetime Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ LCUT opened at $8.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.80. Lifetime Brands has a 52 week low of $2.90 and a 52 week high of $9.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $195.37 million, a P/E ratio of -6.73, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $143.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.58 million. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. Equities research analysts predict that Lifetime Brands will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Lifetime Brands’s payout ratio is presently -13.39%.

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.