Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 187.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $182,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Lake Street Capital upgraded shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

In related news, VP Sarah F. Colbert sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.14, for a total transaction of $90,280.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,448,091.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Stock Performance

RGR stock opened at $41.42 on Thursday. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.37 and a 52 week high of $55.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.39 and its 200 day moving average is $43.72. The firm has a market cap of $697.93 million, a P/E ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.17.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.29). Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $130.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.90%.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells firearms under the Ruger name and trademark in the United States. The company operates through two segments: Firearms and Castings. It provides single-shot, autoloading, bolt-action, and modern sporting rifles; rimfire and centerfire autoloading pistols; single-action and double-action revolvers; and firearms accessories and replacement parts, as well as manufactures lever-action rifles under the Marlin name and trademark.