Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

SWBI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Lake Street Capital upped their target price on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smith & Wesson Brands in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smith & Wesson Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.00.

Smith & Wesson Brands Trading Up 18.7%

SWBI opened at $13.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 4.98 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Smith & Wesson Brands has a 12 month low of $7.73 and a 12 month high of $13.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $622.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.83 and a beta of 1.04.

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $135.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.59 million. Smith & Wesson Brands had a return on equity of 3.06% and a net margin of 2.24%.Smith & Wesson Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Smith & Wesson Brands will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SWBI. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 25.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 8,290 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Smith & Wesson Brands by 41.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,642,000 after purchasing an additional 208,739 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Smith & Wesson Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $95,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Smith & Wesson Brands by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,075,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,336,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Smith & Wesson Brands by 136.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 16,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Smith & Wesson Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Smith & Wesson Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results beat estimates — Smith & Wesson reported EPS of $0.08 vs. consensus $0.05 and revenue of $135.7M vs. $125.6M, with net sales up 17.1% year-over-year; this topline and EPS beat is the primary catalyst for the stock move. Smith & Wesson Q3 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Raise to fiscal Q4 revenue guidance — management updated Q4 revenue guidance to roughly $154.9M–$157.7M versus a consensus of ~$142.2M, signaling better-than-expected near-term demand. Earnings Transcript / Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade — Lake Street Capital raised its price target from $11 to $14 and set a Buy rating, providing incremental buy-side validation. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call / transcripts are available for details on product demand, margin outlook and working-capital commentary — useful for drilling into sustainability of the sales beat. Seeking Alpha Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Press and coverage pieces explain the share move and investor reaction; read for additional color on market response. MSN Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and margin context — the stock trades at a high P/E (~73.6) while reported net margin is modest (~1.9%); investors should weigh elevated valuation vs. growth and guidance. No link

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.