Buckle (NYSE:BKE) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Buckle (NYSE:BKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, UBS Group raised Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Buckle Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BKE opened at $52.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.14. Buckle has a twelve month low of $34.87 and a twelve month high of $54.25.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $293.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.60 million. Buckle had a return on equity of 44.11% and a net margin of 16.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS.

Buckle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $2.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a yield of 2.6%. Buckle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Insider Transactions at Buckle

In other Buckle news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.35, for a total value of $907,090.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,883,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,551,186.75. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Peetz sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $129,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,123 shares in the company, valued at $1,143,759.10. The trade was a 10.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,265 shares of company stock worth $6,270,732. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKE. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Buckle by 6.8% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Buckle by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Buckle by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 799,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,142,000 after acquiring an additional 36,472 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC raised its position in Buckle by 43.3% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 365,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,049,000 after acquiring an additional 110,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Buckle during the third quarter worth about $430,000. 53.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Buckle

The Buckle, Inc operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.