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

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a decrease of 22.5% from the February 13th total of 2,000,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 647,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SWBI shares. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital reduced their target price on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th.

Smith & Wesson Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

Smith & Wesson Brands stock opened at $9.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.46 and a 200 day moving average of $11.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.09. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 12-month low of $9.17 and a 12-month high of $18.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Smith & Wesson Brands had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $115.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.46 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Smith & Wesson Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smith & Wesson Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,063,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,960,000 after buying an additional 104,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,067,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,865,000 after buying an additional 7,260 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after buying an additional 80,235 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 415,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $2,049,000. 59.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

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.