Stanley Black & Decker Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 5,778 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 216% compared to the average daily volume of 1,830 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stanley Black & Decker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SWK. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 40.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 923,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,663,000 after acquiring an additional 267,723 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Stanley Black & Decker by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Stanley Black & Decker in the 3rd quarter valued at $259,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Stanley Black & Decker during the third quarter worth $388,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in Stanley Black & Decker by 53.4% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SWK shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho raised Stanley Black & Decker from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on Stanley Black & Decker from $121.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Stanley Black & Decker from $94.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment 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, Stanley Black & Decker currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.20.

Stanley Black & Decker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SWK traded down $10.40 on Thursday, hitting $66.58. 1,700,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,587,831. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Stanley Black & Decker has a 1-year low of $66.08 and a 1-year high of $110.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $84.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.69.

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Stanley Black & Decker will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Stanley Black & Decker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. Stanley Black & Decker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 169.07%.

Stanley Black & Decker Company Profile

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 Outdoor and Industrial segments.