Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Shares Up 8.2% – Still a Buy?

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB)’s stock price shot up 8.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $98.25 and last traded at $98.22. 32,879 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 117,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MLAB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Down 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $563.66 million, a P/E ratio of 85.02 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.91.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.25). Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.96% and a net margin of 2.69%.The company had revenue of $63.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.31) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.33%.

Insider Transactions at Mesa Laboratories

In related news, Director Shiraz Shabanali Ladiwala acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.23 per share, for a total transaction of $252,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $615,616.29. The trade was a 69.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director R Tony Tripeny acquired 1,315 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.00 per share, with a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $410,248. The trade was a 32.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased 6,116 shares of company stock worth $452,076 over the last ninety days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mesa Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLAB. Simcoe Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $12,794,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 2,009.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 114,357 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,664,000 after purchasing an additional 108,936 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 218.0% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,381 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,268,000 after purchasing an additional 84,582 shares in the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mesa Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $5,137,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Mesa Laboratories by 131.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 133,817 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,967,000 after purchasing an additional 76,107 shares in the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc (NASDAQ: MLAB) is a global provider of instrumentation products designed for critical process monitoring, testing and calibration. Headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, the company serves a diverse set of end markets including healthcare, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, energy and industrial sectors. With a focus on precision measurement and validation, Mesa Laboratories helps customers ensure regulatory compliance, product safety and operational efficiency across complex manufacturing and sterilization processes.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses biological and chemical indicators for sterilization process validation, digital data loggers and sensors for environmental monitoring, and optical gas analyzers with sample-conditioning solutions for oil, gas and petrochemical applications.