Pacer Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. $SWBI

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 153,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.35% of Smith & Wesson Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SWBI. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 12.2% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Smith & Wesson Brands by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Smith & Wesson Brands by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 30,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SWBI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from $14.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Smith & Wesson Brands to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.50.

Smith & Wesson Brands Stock Down 2.1%

Smith & Wesson Brands stock opened at $14.25 on Friday. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $7.86 and a one year high of $17.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.04 and a 200 day moving average of $14.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 3.20. The stock has a market cap of $637.40 million, a PE ratio of 35.63 and a beta of 0.88.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 17th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.13. Smith & Wesson Brands had a return on equity of 5.01% and a net margin of 3.53%.The business had revenue of $178.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Smith & Wesson Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. Smith & Wesson Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 130.00%.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc is a leading American manufacturer of firearms and related products, designing, producing and marketing a broad array of handguns, long guns and shooting accessories. The company’s portfolio includes revolvers, semi-automatic pistols and rifles under well-known brands such as M&P® (Military & Police) and Performance Center®, which are used by military, law enforcement, commercial and private customers. In addition to complete firearms, Smith & Wesson offers suppressors, optics mounts, holsters and other shooting accessories to support a full spectrum of professional and recreational shooting activities.

Founded in 1852 by Horace Smith and Daniel B.