Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) is one of the best gun stocks to buy in 2026. On March 10, Beretta Holding S.A., currently the largest shareholder of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR), issued a public clarification pushing back strongly against what it called “blatantly false and misleading” statements made by Ruger’s board. Beretta insisted that its goal has always been a collaborative minority investment, not a takeover.
Beretta is a Luxembourg-based holding company of the Italian firearms dynasty dating to 1526. It quietly built up its Ruger stake through open-market purchases totaling about $60.3 million. The company then filed a Schedule 13D in late 2025 that disclosed the position, showing it owns a 9.95% stake in Ruger, and flagged a broad range of strategic intentions.
However, Ruger’s board responded by adopting a “poison pill” stockholder rights plan in October 2025 to prevent any entity from accumulating further shares. It subsequently demanded that Beretta sign unusually restrictive standstill agreements before any substantive discussions could take place.
In its March 10 statement, Beretta said it had in fact proposed a strategic minority investment at market terms. To the company, Ruger’s characterization of this as a “control grab” was deliberately misleading. Beretta also accused Ruger’s board of breaching a confidentiality agreement by selectively leaking details from private negotiations in a bid to discredit Beretta publicly.
Beretta also criticized Ruger’s recent board refresh, in which three new directors were added. The company described the refresh as cosmetic and noted that long-tenured directors still hold key leadership positions and that a newly adopted retirement policy exempts existing incumbents from the same age and tenure limits imposed on incoming directors.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) is a US firearms manufacturer that designs, produces, and sells rifles, pistols, and revolvers. Its products are distributed through independent wholesale distributors, federally licensed retail firearms dealers, and directly to consumers.
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