Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, an increase of 23.9% from the February 28th total of 1,550,000 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 506,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,063,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,960,000 after purchasing an additional 104,128 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,067,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,865,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 525,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,309,000 after acquiring an additional 80,235 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 415,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,196,000 after acquiring an additional 21,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $2,049,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SWBI. Craig Hallum cut shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Lake Street Capital cut their price target on Smith & Wesson Brands from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Smith & Wesson Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

SWBI stock opened at $9.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $407.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.97 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 1-year low of $9.17 and a 1-year high of $17.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.56.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Smith & Wesson Brands had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 7.00%. The firm had revenue of $115.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.46 million. Research analysts anticipate that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Smith & Wesson Brands’s payout ratio is 80.00%.

Smith & Wesson Brands Company Profile

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the manufacture, design, and provision of firearms. Its portfolio includes handguns, long guns, handcuffs, suppressor, and other firearm-related products. The firm’s brands are Smith & Wesson, M&P, Thompson/Center Arms, and Gemtech.