StockNews.com Downgrades Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) to Hold

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Littelfuse from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Littelfuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Littelfuse from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Littelfuse presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.75.

Littelfuse Price Performance

LFUS stock opened at $257.34 on Thursday. Littelfuse has a 52 week low of $212.80 and a 52 week high of $275.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.27.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The technology company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $558.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.35 million. Littelfuse had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Littelfuse will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,295,683.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Matthew Cole sold 1,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.02, for a total value of $353,284.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,358,522.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Heinzmann sold 300 shares of Littelfuse stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $81,951.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,654 shares in the company, valued at $16,295,683.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,328 shares of company stock worth $4,437,986 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Littelfuse

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Littelfuse in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 410.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Littelfuse by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 143 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Littelfuse by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Littelfuse in the first quarter worth $50,000. 96.14% of the stock is currently 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.