Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 23.7% to 150,065 shares as of April 15, equal to about 1.2% of the stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 0.7 (based on average daily volume).
• Quarterly results beat estimates: Lifetime Brands reported $1.05 EPS vs. $0.18 expected and $204.1M revenue vs. $202.1M, but still showed a negative net margin (−4.16%) and a negative P/E (−5.41), indicating mixed fundamentals.
• Dividend and analyst view: The company declared a $0.0425 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.17, ~2.5% yield; ex-dividend May 1, payable May 15) while Wall Street consensus is a "Hold" with a $5.00 target (1 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell).

Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 150,065 shares, a growth of 23.7% from the March 31st total of 121,340 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 227,362 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Lifetime Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ LCUT traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $6.71. The stock had a trading volume of 69,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,460. Lifetime Brands has a one year low of $2.89 and a one year high of $8.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $153.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average is $5.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.22.

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.87. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 4.16% and a positive return on equity of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $204.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $202.09 million. On average, analysts expect that Lifetime Brands will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Lifetime Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.0425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. This represents a $0.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Lifetime Brands's dividend payout ratio is -13.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LCUT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Lifetime Brands by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 908,722 shares of the company's stock worth $4,634,000 after purchasing an additional 130,650 shares during the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lifetime Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings 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 bought a new position in shares of Lifetime Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Institutional investors own 40.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LCUT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Friday, February 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Lifetime Brands from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lifetime Brands to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lifetime Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.00.

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.

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