Now may be the time for Sturm, Ruger & Company RGR 0.28% to take advantage of the stock’s 7.8 percent gain this year and lock in some profits. BB&T analyst Brian Ruttenbur has downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and sees a cyclical downturn ahead for gun makers.

While BB&T sees tough times ahead for gun makers, Ruttenbur noted that the firm is choosing a Hold rating rather than a Sell rating because he still sees Sturm, Ruger & Co as the best name in the business.

“We believe the company has the strongest financial structure in the industry and can weather the downturn with a solid balance sheet (over $80 million in cash) and strong free cash flow (expected at $96 million in 2016 and $73 million in 2017),” Ruttenbur explained.

The company’s strong financial positioning is one of the main reasons why BB&T sees Sturm, Ruger & Co as well-positioned to repeat the market share gains it achieved during the last cyclical downturn in the gun industry.

Last week, the NICS data for the month of May was…

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