Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) saw a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a decline of 35.5% from the December 31st total of 2,200,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 619,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands during the second quarter valued at about $4,354,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Smith & Wesson Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,129,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 1,023.1% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 134,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 122,147 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 240.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 56,800 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 380.9% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 62,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 49,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SWBI. Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Craig Hallum cut Smith & Wesson Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Smith & Wesson Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:SWBI opened at $10.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $468.16 million, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 3.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Smith & Wesson Brands has a twelve month low of $9.68 and a twelve month high of $18.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.00.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $129.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.53 million. Smith & Wesson Brands had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. Smith & Wesson Brands’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Smith & Wesson Brands Company Profile

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, design, and provision of firearms. Its portfolio includes handguns, long guns, handcuffs, suppressor, and other firearm-related products. The firm’s brands are Smith & Wesson, M&P, Thompson/Center Arms, and Gemtech.