Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK)

Key Points

• Investors purchased 10,821 call options for Stanley Black & Decker, indicating a 325% increase in trading volume compared to typical activity.
• Several institutional investors, including Golden State Wealth Management, have significantly increased their positions in the company, which is now 87.77% owned by institutional investors.
• Stanley Black & Decker announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.83 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.4% and a payout ratio of 105.40%.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 10,821 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof325% compared to the typical volume of 2,548 call options.

Institutional Trading of Stanley Black & Decker

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 1,138.5% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SWK. Jefferies Financial Group set a $86.00 price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research raised Stanley Black & Decker from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $93.00 to $60.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $90.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Stanley Black & Decker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stanley Black & Decker has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.40.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Performance

SWK traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $74.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,028,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,407,346. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.75. The company has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.16. Stanley Black & Decker has a 1 year low of $53.91 and a 1 year high of $110.88.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.70. Stanley Black & Decker had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 3.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stanley Black & Decker will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Stanley Black & Decker's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Stanley Black & Decker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.40%.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc engages in the provision of power and hand tools, and related accessories, products, services and equipment for oil and gas, infrastructure applications, commercial electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, and mechanical access solutions. It operates through the Tools and Outdoor and Industrial segments.

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