Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LFUS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Littelfuse in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised 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, StockNews.com upgraded Littelfuse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.00.

Littelfuse Stock Down 2.3 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.27. 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 $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04. Littelfuse had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 8.49%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Littelfuse’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Littelfuse news, CAO Jeffrey G. Gorski sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.02, for a total value of $174,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,105 shares in the company, valued at $773,207.10. This trade represents a 18.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Littelfuse

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Littelfuse during the fourth quarter worth $401,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Littelfuse in the 4th quarter valued at about $378,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Littelfuse by 221.0% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Littelfuse by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.14% of the company’s stock.

About Littelfuse

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.