Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Stock Position in Buckle, Inc. (The) $BKE

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Buckle, Inc. by 27.3%, acquiring an additional 20,369 shares, bringing its total stake to 94,894 shares worth approximately $3.6 million.
• Buckle reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share, exceeding estimates, and generated $272.12 million in revenue, up 3.7% from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of approximately 36%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Buckle, Inc. (The) (NYSE:BKE - Free Report) by 27.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 94,894 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 20,369 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.19% of Buckle worth $3,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caption Management LLC purchased a new stake in Buckle in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Buckle in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Buckle in the fourth quarter valued at about $111,000. Viking Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Buckle in the first quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, Novem Group acquired a new position in shares of Buckle in the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. 53.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKE has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Buckle from $40.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Buckle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Buckle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Buckle Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of BKE traded up $1.4080 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.2580. The company had a trading volume of 1,035,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 547,104. Buckle, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.12 and a 52-week high of $57.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.57.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.06. Buckle had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 16.12%.The firm had revenue of $305.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Buckle's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Buckle news, Director James E. Shada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.84, for a total transaction of $498,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 85,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,253,943.68. This represents a 10.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $890,114.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,655,204 shares in the company, valued at $72,034,478.08. This represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 39.80% of the company's stock.

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.