Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) shares reached 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

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LFUS. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Littelfuse from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Littelfuse in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $280.00.

Littelfuse Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50-day moving average is $239.61 and its 200-day moving average is $250.19.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 5.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 10.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Littelfuse Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Littelfuse's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Littelfuse news, CAO Jeffrey G. Gorski sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $773,207.10. The trade was a 18.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Littelfuse

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Littelfuse by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Littelfuse during the third quarter worth $27,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Littelfuse by 525.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 125 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Littelfuse by 70.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Littelfuse by 181.0% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.