Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 98,764 Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 98,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,493,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.59% of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 127.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 44,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 81,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE RGR opened at $38.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.25. The stock has a market cap of $637.79 million, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.22. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.11 and a 12 month high of $47.28.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The business had revenue of $145.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.77 million. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is a boost from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Company Profile

Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc engages in the business of designing, manufacturing, and selling firearms to domestic customers. It operates through the Firearms and Castings segments. The Firearms segment focuses on manufacturing and selling rifles, pistols, and revolvers principally to a number of federally licensed, independent wholesale distributors.