Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR - Free Report) by 74.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131,093 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,087 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.78% of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. worth $4,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGR. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 9.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 127.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 44,956 shares of the company's stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. by 2.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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. Price Performance

NYSE RGR traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 112,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,920. The firm has a market capitalization of $660.17 million, a P/E ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.15. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.11 and a 52-week high of $48.20. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $37.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.50.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $145.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $137.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.24%.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. 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.