Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:RGR)

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 2,921 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,271% compared to the average daily volume of 213 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RGR shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. stock opened at $40.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.85 million, a P/E ratio of 54.56 and a beta of 0.19. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.33 and a 52 week high of $48.21.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.10. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 6.58%. The business had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

Institutional Trading of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $49,541,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 15.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 548,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,753,000 after purchasing an additional 71,423 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 7.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 397,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,933,000 after buying an additional 27,107 shares during the last quarter. JRM Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,916,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 232,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,301,000 after buying an additional 9,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells firearms for the commercial sporting market. Its product portfolio includes modern sporting rifles, bolt-action rifles, single-shot rifles, autoloading rifles, shotguns, pistols, and revolvers. The company markets its products primarily under the Ruger brand.

Founded in 1949 by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm, the company has developed a broad lineup serving hunters, sport shooters, firearm collectors, and personal-protection customers.