The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large 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. Based on an average daily volume of 475,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.2 days. Currently, 11.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Buckle from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the company 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Buckle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Buckle in the 4th quarter valued at $103,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,797 shares of the company's stock worth $203,756,000 after buying an additional 55,192 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Buckle during the fourth quarter valued at about $269,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Buckle by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,638 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after buying 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 worth approximately $502,000. 53.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Buckle Price Performance

Shares of Buckle stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $36.53. The company had a trading volume of 327,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,502. Buckle has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $48.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.23.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $382.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.63 million. Buckle had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 50.88%. Buckle's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS.

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.83%. Buckle's payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

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.