The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) CEO Dennis H. Nelson Sells 20,453 Shares of Stock

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.42, for a total transaction of $888,069.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,698,828 shares in the company, valued at $73,763,111.76. This represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Buckle Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BKE opened at $42.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 1.14. The Buckle, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.87 and a 52 week high of $54.25.

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

Buckle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $2.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a yield of 2.6%. Buckle’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Buckle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Buckle by 442.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 190,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 155,366 shares during the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Buckle by 43.3% in the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 365,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,049,000 after purchasing an additional 110,273 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Buckle during the third quarter worth about $4,753,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Buckle by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 937,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,636,000 after purchasing an additional 100,173 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Buckle in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,909,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Buckle Company Profile

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.