Short Interest in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) Declines By 30.7%

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, a drop of 30.7% from the March 15th total of 1,660,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 410,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Smith & Wesson Brands Price Performance

SWBI traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $16.75. 229,129 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,116. Smith & Wesson Brands has a fifty-two week low of $10.38 and a fifty-two week high of $18.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.29. The stock has a market cap of $772.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 1.17.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $137.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $133.56 million. Smith & Wesson Brands had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Smith & Wesson Brands's payout ratio is 84.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Scott sold 2,000 shares of Smith & Wesson Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total transaction of $35,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,281,085.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Deana L. Mcpherson sold 13,068 shares of Smith & Wesson Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.49, for a total value of $228,559.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,335,711.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Scott sold 2,000 shares of Smith & Wesson Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.90, for a total transaction of $35,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 71,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,281,085.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,068 shares of company stock valued at $317,619. 0.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWBI. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,006,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,249,000 after buying an additional 82,622 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,569,987 shares of the company's stock worth $48,409,000 after purchasing an additional 55,827 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 8.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,490,598 shares of the company's stock worth $30,657,000 after purchasing an additional 193,438 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,067,462 shares of the company's stock worth $28,035,000 after purchasing an additional 191,813 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 386.6% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,125,215 shares of the company's stock worth $14,673,000 after purchasing an additional 893,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Craig Hallum raised shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th.

Smith & Wesson Brands Company Profile

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells firearms worldwide. The company offers handguns, including revolvers and pistols; long guns, such as modern sporting rifles, bolt action rifles; handcuffs; suppressors; and other firearm-related products under the Smith & Wesson, M&P, and Gemtech brands.