Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $86.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Stanley Black & Decker traded as low as $77.35 and last traded at $78.34, with a volume of 735268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.47.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SWK. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Stanley Black & Decker in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Mizuho upgraded Stanley Black & Decker from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $121.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stanley Black & Decker

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SWK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,186,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,540,445,000 after buying an additional 495,103 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,413,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,478,454,000 after acquiring an additional 246,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,062,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $998,107,000 after acquiring an additional 549,531 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 126.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,485,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $440,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,139,196 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,336,000 after purchasing an additional 763,219 shares during the period. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stanley Black & Decker Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.21. Stanley Black & Decker had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 1.92%. As a group, analysts predict that Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Stanley Black & Decker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Stanley Black & Decker’s payout ratio is currently 169.07%.

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.