Short Interest in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) Rises By 26.7%

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,420,000 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the March 15th total of 2,700,000 shares. Currently, 11.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 475,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days.

Buckle Trading Down 0.8 %

BKE stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $36.53. 327,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 467,502. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.23. Buckle has a one year low of $30.18 and a one year high of $48.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.64.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.15. Buckle had a return on equity of 50.88% and a net margin of 17.44%. The company had revenue of $382.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $383.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Buckle’s payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKE has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Buckle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Buckle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th.

Institutional Trading of Buckle

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Buckle during the 4th quarter valued at $103,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Buckle by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,756,000 after acquiring an additional 55,192 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Buckle during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Buckle by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Buckle in the 4th quarter valued at $502,000. 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, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.