From the Ruger press release …

Southport, CT November 15, 2010 – Forbes magazine has named Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (NYSE: RGR) one of “America’s 100 Best Small Companies” in 2010. The list appeared in the November 8th issue of Forbes.

“We are proud to be recognized by Forbes as one of America’s 100 Best Small Companies,” said Ruger CEO Michael Fifer. “We owe a great deal of thanks to our loyal customers and dedicated employees for contributing to our success. Because of our innovative product introductions and continuously improving American manufacturing, we have seen our sales growth and earnings per share improve significantly over the last four years.”

The Forbes list of 100 Best Small Companies in America only considers companies that have been publicly traded for at least a year, pull in annual revenue between $5 million and $1 billion, and boast a stock price no lower than $5 per share. Forbes also factored in the stock performance of each company compared with that of its peers. The rankings are based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over five years. During the past five years, Ruger saw earnings growth of 470%; sales growth of 86%; and annual return on equity increase from 4% to 34%.

Congrats to Ruger.