Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.05 and last traded at $12.01, with a volume of 322781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SWBI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Smith & Wesson Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

Smith & Wesson Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $534.32 million, a PE ratio of 63.21 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.98 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.02. Smith & Wesson Brands had a return on equity of 2.34% and a net margin of 1.89%.The firm had revenue of $124.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.73 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Smith & Wesson Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 273.68%.

Institutional Trading of Smith & Wesson Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWBI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 25.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 8,290 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,642,000 after purchasing an additional 208,739 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $130,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Smith & Wesson Brands by 119.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Smith & Wesson Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $372,000. 59.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc is a leading American manufacturer of firearms and related products, designing, producing and marketing a broad array of handguns, long guns and shooting accessories. The company’s portfolio includes revolvers, semi-automatic pistols and rifles under well-known brands such as M&P® (Military & Police) and Performance Center®, which are used by military, law enforcement, commercial and private customers. In addition to complete firearms, Smith & Wesson offers suppressors, optics mounts, holsters and other shooting accessories to support a full spectrum of professional and recreational shooting activities.

Founded in 1852 by Horace Smith and Daniel B.