Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 497,100 shares, a decrease of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 631,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 159,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

In other Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. news, CEO Christopher John Killoy sold 3,664 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total transaction of $164,989.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,869 shares in the company, valued at $2,380,691.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock worth $340,018 in the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGR. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,011,127 shares of the company's stock worth $159,469,000 after purchasing an additional 24,588 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,032,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,399,000 after acquiring an additional 35,815 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,040,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,201 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 610,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 566,610 shares of the company's stock worth $25,752,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.00% of the company's stock.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Stock Down 2.2 %

RGR stock traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.72. 184,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 179,069. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.00 and a twelve month high of $59.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $807.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.24.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $130.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.75 million. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 14.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 33.82%.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Company Profile

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.