Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) Short Interest Up 26.6% in February

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,660,000 shares, a growth of 26.6% from the January 31st total of 5,260,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho raised Stanley Black & Decker from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Stanley Black & Decker in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $121.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stanley Black & Decker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SWK. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 107.2% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 87.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stanley Black & Decker Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SWK opened at $85.19 on Friday. Stanley Black & Decker has a 52-week low of $77.70 and a 52-week high of $110.88. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 43.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $85.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.21. Stanley Black & Decker had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 1.92%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Stanley Black & Decker will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stanley Black & Decker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 169.07%.

About Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc engages in the provision of power and hand tools, and related accessories, products, services and equipment for oil and gas, infrastructure applications, commercial electronic security and monitoring systems, healthcare solutions, and mechanical access solutions. It operates through the Tools and Storage segment, and Industrial segment.