Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) Short Interest Down 16.3% in December

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,590,767 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the November 30th total of 6,678,487 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,616,195 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,616,195 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SWK. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Stanley Black & Decker from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $88.00 price objective on Stanley Black & Decker in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Stanley Black & Decker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, October 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.33.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Performance

NYSE SWK opened at $75.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.20. Stanley Black & Decker has a 12-month low of $53.91 and a 12-month high of $91.06.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter. Stanley Black & Decker had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 2.89%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stanley Black & Decker will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Stanley Black & Decker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio is 114.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,663,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,264,486,000 after buying an additional 91,016 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,768,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $949,050,000 after acquiring an additional 116,302 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Stanley Black & Decker by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,423,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $638,438,000 after purchasing an additional 215,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,379,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $325,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,329,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,781,000 after purchasing an additional 452,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

Stanley Black & Decker Company Profile

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc (NYSE:SWK) is a leading global manufacturer of industrial tools, engineered fastening systems, and security products. The company’s portfolio includes power tools, hand tools, accessories, and storage solutions marketed under well-known brands such as DEWALT, Stanley, Craftsman and Black & Decker. In addition to its core tools and hardware offerings, the company provides customized assembly and installation systems for the automotive, electronics and aerospace industries.

Operations are organized across three principal business segments.