Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) Trading 8.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Mesa Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mesa Laboratories from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Mesa Laboratories in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Up 8.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.62. The company has a market capitalization of $543.62 million, a PE ratio of 154.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.25). Mesa Laboratories had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.31) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director R Tony Tripeny purchased 1,315 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $76.00 per share, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shiraz Shabanali Ladiwala purchased 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.23 per share, with a total value of $252,805.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $615,616.29. The trade was a 69.68% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,116 shares of company stock worth $452,076. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 213,376 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,752,000 after buying an additional 99,019 shares during the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $12,794,000. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 153,352 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,038,000 after buying an additional 4,794 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 144,606 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,352,000 after buying an additional 23,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Mesa Laboratories by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 141,973 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,145,000 after buying an additional 18,592 shares during the last quarter. 90.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Mesa Laboratories

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.