Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) Short Interest Down 18.2% in March

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 460,200 shares, a decline of 18.2% from the March 15th total of 562,900 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 146,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 748.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 653 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 115.1% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 18,642.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 351.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Trading Down 0.8 %

RGR traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.97. 99,983 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 152,080. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a one year low of $34.11 and a one year high of $47.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $653.22 million, a PE ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.22.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. The company had revenue of $145.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.77 million. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. This is a boost from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 54.24%.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc engages in the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling firearms to domestic customers. It operates through the Firearms and Castings segments. The Firearms segment focuses on manufacturing and selling rifles, pistols, and revolvers principally to a number of federally licensed, independent wholesale distributors.