The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.46.

AAN has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Aaron’s in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.10 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

NYSE:AAN opened at $10.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.06 and its 200-day moving average is $9.16. Aaron’s has a 52-week low of $6.62 and a 52-week high of $11.90. The company has a market cap of $318.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.10). Aaron’s had a negative net margin of 2.06% and a negative return on equity of 2.08%. The firm had revenue of $503.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $513.91 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aaron’s will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently -63.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Aaron’s by 3.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 31,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Aaron’s by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Aaron’s by 2.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 166,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 3,772 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Aaron’s by 314.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Aaron’s

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aaron’s Company, Inc (NYSE: AAN) is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Aaron’s engages in direct-to-consumer sales and lease ownership of furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and accessories through its approximately 1,300 company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com.