Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

SWBI has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Lake Street Capital increased their target price on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Smith & Wesson Brands Trading Down 0.9%

SWBI stock opened at $14.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 4.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $627.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.35 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.12. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 52 week low of $7.73 and a 52 week high of $14.59.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Smith & Wesson Brands had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.24%.The firm had revenue of $135.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Smith & Wesson Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 226.09%.

Institutional Trading of Smith & Wesson Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWBI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,642,000 after buying an additional 208,739 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Smith & Wesson Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $95,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,075,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,336,000 after buying an additional 3,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in Smith & Wesson Brands by 136.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 16,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.33% of the company’s stock.

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.