Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) Short Interest Down 18.2% in January

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,895,318 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the January 15th total of 2,316,159 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 517,281 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 517,281 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smith & Wesson Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SWBI. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 205.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 119.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Smith & Wesson Brands by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the period. Finally, Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands during the third quarter worth $106,000. 59.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Smith & Wesson Brands Stock Performance

Smith & Wesson Brands stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.73. 405,682 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,294. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 52 week low of $7.73 and a 52 week high of $12.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 4.98. The firm has a market cap of $521.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.28 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.64.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued 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 dividend yield of 4.4%. Smith & Wesson Brands’s payout ratio is presently 273.68%.

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.