Ruger shares surge as gunmaker aims at 1 million gun mark
Shares of Fairfield-based Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. soared more than 7 percent Friday following an analyst upgrade and a day after the gunmaker announced sales rose by one-third in the fourth quarter.
Sales of firearms reached 315,100 in the last three months of 2011, up 34 percent from 235,200 in the year-earlier period.
Ruger announced the figures as part of its Million Gun Challenge, a promotion that donates $1 to the National Rifle Association for every firearm the company sells. Ruger, which started the challenge during the second quarter of 2011, gave itself until April of this year, when the NRA holds its national convention, to hit the target.
The market was down all day Friday, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 6.43 points to close at 1,289.09. But shares of Ruger hit a record high of $39.25 before closing at $38.68, up $2.81 or 7.8 percent, following CL King analyst Jim Barrett‘s upgrade of the stock to “buy” from “hold.”
John Butters, a FactSet Research spokesman, said the mean rating on Ruger had been a “hold” for the past few months.
“Consumer support for the Million Gun Challenge to Benefit the NRA has been overwhelming and helped Ruger enjoy a robust 2011,” Ruger’s President and CEO Mike Fifer said in a news release.
Through three quarters, Ruger has donated $871,200 to the NRA, making the final push to 1 million look like an easy shot.
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