Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $222.73 and last traded at $223.64, with a volume of 48001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LFUS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Littelfuse from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Littelfuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer upgraded Littelfuse from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Littelfuse in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.00.

Littelfuse Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a current ratio of 3.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $239.64 and a 200-day moving average of $250.60.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.04. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 8.88%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Littelfuse Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Littelfuse’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Activity at Littelfuse

In other news, CAO Jeffrey G. Gorski sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.02, for a total transaction of $174,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $773,207.10. This trade represents a 18.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Littelfuse

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in Littelfuse by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 719 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 1.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,436 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 1.4% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 3,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Littelfuse by 70.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.