Norges Bank Takes Position in 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 its most recent Form 13F 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.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RGR. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $9,142,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 131,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,637,000 after acquiring an additional 56,087 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $870,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,969,000 after acquiring an additional 23,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 202,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,174,000 after purchasing an additional 22,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RGR opened at $38.05 on Friday. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.11 and a fifty-two week high of $47.28. The company has a market cap of $637.79 million, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.25.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The company had revenue of $145.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is 54.24%.

About Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.

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.