Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Littelfuse's share price jumped from $235.79 to $254.92 following a strong earnings report, with the stock closing at $265.53.
• The company reported earnings per share of $2.85, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.35 and showing a 9.8% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Littelfuse announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.75, up from $0.70, yielding an annualized rate of 1.13% for investors.

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $235.79, but opened at $254.92. Littelfuse shares last traded at $265.53, with a volume of 75,252 shares traded.

The technology company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $613.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $571.04 million. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 5.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share.

Littelfuse Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Littelfuse's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Littelfuse's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LFUS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Littelfuse from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Littelfuse in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Littelfuse from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W downgraded Littelfuse from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Littelfuse from $310.00 to $275.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deepak Nayar sold 1,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.50, for a total value of $291,707.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,062.50. This trade represents a 19.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Littelfuse

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Littelfuse by 13.5% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,701 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Littelfuse by 24.6% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Littelfuse by 6.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 145,366 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,319 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Littelfuse by 4.5% during the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 9,047 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Littelfuse by 1,950.7% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,994 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,848 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Littelfuse Stock Down 2.5%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.39.

Littelfuse Company Profile

Littelfuse, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors.