Buckle (NYSE:BKE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $52.26 and last traded at $51.97, with a volume of 4761 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Buckle Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Buckle’s payout ratio is currently 35.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Buckle news, Director Karen B. Rhoads sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $490,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 214,089 shares in the company, valued at $11,053,415.07. This represents a 4.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total transaction of $854,526.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,904,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,564,077.24. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,765 shares of company stock worth $5,524,118 over the last three months. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Buckle

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 14.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Buckle by 18.5% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 5,686 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Buckle by 22.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Buckle by 119.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Buckle by 7.7% during the second quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 37,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

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.