Wells Fargo & Company Begins Coverage on Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued an underweight rating and a $120.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Separately, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Mesa Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MLAB opened at $140.86 on Tuesday. Mesa Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $82.86 and a fifty-two week high of $145.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.08. The company has a market capitalization of $761.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.55. Mesa Laboratories had a negative net margin of 117.61% and a positive return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $58.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.90 million. Analysts expect that Mesa Laboratories will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Mesa Laboratories’s payout ratio is -1.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 0.4% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 580,744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,725,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 373,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 226,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $23,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 2.5% in the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 194,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $21,324,000 after purchasing an additional 4,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 7.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 131,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,444,000 after purchasing an additional 8,722 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Clinical Genomics, Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Biopharmaceutical Development, and Calibration Solutions.