Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on LCUT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Monday. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Lifetime Brands from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.00.

Lifetime Brands Trading Up 1.6%

Lifetime Brands stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.28. 119,548 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 294,049. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.00. Lifetime Brands has a 12 month low of $2.90 and a 12 month high of $9.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.80.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $143.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.58 million. Analysts forecast that Lifetime Brands will post 0.73 EPS for the current year.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.0425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Lifetime Brands’s payout ratio is currently -13.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LCUT. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Lifetime Brands by 7.3% in 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 during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Lifetime Brands during the second quarter worth $88,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 130,650 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Lifetime Brands during the third quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lifetime Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 243,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 8,820 shares during the last quarter. 40.62% of the stock is currently owned by 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.