Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in a report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RGR opened at $50.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $801.88 million, a P/E ratio of 49.68 and a beta of 0.11. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.33 and a 1 year high of $51.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.93.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.07. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a return on equity of 7.97% and a net margin of 2.74%. The company had revenue of $147.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Wilson sold 628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.47, for a total transaction of $28,555.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,828 shares of company stock valued at $77,725 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 141,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,019,000 after purchasing an additional 19,005 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $359,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 630.0% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. in the third quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 66.6% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471 shares during the last quarter. 64.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells firearms for the commercial sporting market. Its product portfolio includes pistols, revolvers, rifles, and related accessories marketed under the Ruger brand. The company serves customers through independent distributors, retailers, and other firearms dealers.

Founded in 1949 by William B. Ruger and Alexander M. Sturm, the company is one of the largest firearms manufacturers in the United States. Its products are manufactured in the U.S.