Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Fully Diluted Earnings Of 91¢ Per Share and Declares Dividend Of 36¢ Per Share

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) announced today that for the second quarter of 2015 the Company reported net sales of $140.9 million and fully diluted earnings of 91¢ per share, compared with net sales of $153.7 million and fully diluted earnings of $1.12 per share in the second quarter of 2014.

For the six months ended June 27, 2015, net sales were $277.8 million and fully diluted earnings were $1.71 per share. For the corresponding period in 2014, net sales were $323.5 million and fully diluted earnings were $2.34 per share.

The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 36¢ per share for the second quarter for stockholders of record as of August 14, 2015, payable on August 28, 2015. This dividend varies every quarter because the Company pays a percent of earnings rather than a fixed amount per share. This dividend is approximately 40% of net income.

Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer made the following observations related to the Company's 2015 second quarter performance:

• In the second quarter of 2015, net sales increased 3% and earnings increased 14% from the first quarter of 2015.
• New products, including the AR-556 modern sporting rifle and the LC9s pistol, represented $47.7 million or 17% of firearm sales in the first half of 2015. New product sales include only major new products that were introduced in the past two years. The recently introduced Ruger Precision Rifle did not begin to ship until July, and therefore did not impact the second quarter's results.
• In the second quarter of 2015, the estimated sell-through of the Company's products from the independent distributors to retailers decreased 22% from the first quarter of 2015. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System background checks (as adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation) decreased 21% during the same period.
• Inventory of the Company's products at the independent distributors increased by 63,500 units during the second quarter of 2015 and the Company's finished goods inventory increased by 44,100 units during the same period.
• Cash generated from operations during the six months ended June 27, 2015 was $80.9 million. At June 27, 2015, our cash totaled $61.1 million. Our current ratio is 2.2 to 1 and we have no debt.
• In the first half of 2015, capital expenditures totaled $16.3 million, much of it related to tooling and equipment for new products. We expect our 2015 capital expenditures to total approximately $30 million.
• In the first half of 2015, the Company returned $12.0 million to its shareholders through:
  • the payment of $9.2 million of dividends, and
  • the repurchase of 82,100 shares of our common stock in the open market at an average price of $34.57 per share, for a total of $2.8 million.
• At June 27, 2015, stockholders' equity was $208.0 million, which equates to a book value of $11.12 per share, of which $3.27 per share is cash.