How Much More Can Lakeland Rise?

What investors need to know about Lakeland is that this company has been considered a protective gear and hazmat suit company for years. Its stock has seen major moves over the past decade or more around such national concerns. The most recent announcement is that the company has expanded production capacity to meet growing demand and it announced the global availability of hazmat suits specifically for Ebola.

The recent Ebola scare within the United States has gripped many people with fear, and investors appear to be betting on this as well. Lakeland was well positioned for this, being an international provider of protective clothing, specifically hazmat suits. The company recently said:

With the U.S. State Department alone putting out a bid for 160,000 suits, we encourage all protective apparel companies to increase their manufacturing capacity for sealed seam garments so that our industry can do its part in addressing this threat to global health.

When the first reported case of Ebola was announced in the United States, we saw comparable Ebola-related stocks such as Tekmira, Sarepta and BioCryst take a similar jump on the announcement.

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This stock shot up on October 1 as high as $9.80, 41% higher than the previous close of $6.95. The shares have continued to climb to a high on Thursday to $18.60. Over the course of October, the stock has gained over 150%.

The answer on how much more something can rise is up to you. This company has a market cap of only $96 million. We will not dare try to call a top, nor will we predict that it will fall apart. This company’s sales have been under $100 million but over $90 million for each of the past four years. It is almost a certainty that its new Ebola and existing hazmat suits are being ordered rapidly — the company even telegraphed higher production due to demand.

Lakeland shares have a consensus analyst price target of $7.35 and a 52-week trading range of $4.75 to $18.60. We have included a long-term chart below from BigCharts.com that does include the latest rise as well.