Short Interest in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) Drops By 35.5%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SWBI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Lake Street Capital lowered Smith & Wesson Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Smith & Wesson Brands Stock Performance

SWBI stock opened at $10.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $445.31 million, a PE ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.26. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 1-year low of $9.68 and a 1-year high of $18.05.

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

Smith & Wesson Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. Smith & Wesson Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smith & Wesson Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,798,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,123,000 after buying an additional 72,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,067,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,865,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 28.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,046,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,004,000 after acquiring an additional 230,532 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $4,354,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $4,129,000. 59.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells firearms worldwide. The company offers handguns, including revolvers and pistols; long guns, such as modern sporting rifles, bolt action rifles; handcuffs; suppressors; and other firearm-related products under the Smith & Wesson, M&P, and Gemtech brands.