Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $107.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Stanley Black & Decker from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $110.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $82.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stanley Black & Decker has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.75.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Performance

SWK opened at $96.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -139.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.24. Stanley Black & Decker has a 52-week low of $76.26 and a 52-week high of $108.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.52.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.25. Stanley Black & Decker had a negative net margin of 1.87% and a positive return on equity of 6.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stanley Black & Decker will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Stanley Black & Decker’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -475.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Janet Link sold 13,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.91, for a total transaction of $1,404,863.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,320,963.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stanley Black & Decker

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Stanley Black & Decker during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stanley Black & Decker Company Profile

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc provides hand tools, power tools, outdoor products, and related accessories in the United States, Canada, Other Americas, Europe, and Asia. Its Tools & Outdoor segment offers professional grade corded and cordless electric power tools and equipment, including drills, impact wrenches and drivers, grinders, saws, routers, and sanders; pneumatic tools and fasteners, such as nail guns, nails, staplers and staples, and concrete and masonry anchors; corded and cordless electric power tools; hand-held vacuums, paint tools, and cleaning appliances; leveling and layout tools, planes, hammers, demolition tools, clamps, vises, knives, saws, chisels, and industrial and automotive tools; drill, screwdriver, router bits, abrasives, saw blades, and threading products; tool boxes, sawhorses, medical cabinets, and engineered storage solutions; and electric and gas-powered lawn and garden products.