Short Interest in Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) Decreases By 18.3%

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 156,000 shares, a decline of 18.3% from the March 31st total of 191,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 44,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Mesa Laboratories from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Mesa Laboratories Stock Performance

Mesa Laboratories stock traded up $2.33 on Monday, reaching $105.52. 30,895 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,254. The stock has a market cap of $568.75 million, a PE ratio of 620.74 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Mesa Laboratories has a twelve month low of $82.86 and a twelve month high of $172.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.61.

Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $53.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.90 million. Mesa Laboratories had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 0.45%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mesa Laboratories will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Mesa Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Mesa Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 376.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 515.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 277 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,928 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Mesa Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $341,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mesa Laboratories by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.60% of the company’s stock.

Mesa Laboratories Company Profile

Mesa Laboratories, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Clinical Genomics, Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Biopharmaceutical Development, and Calibration Solutions.