Short Interest in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) Declines By 11.0%

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, a drop of 11.0% from the October 15th total of 3,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 378,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.3 days. Approximately 9.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upgraded Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total transaction of $854,526.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,904,358 shares in the company, valued at $79,564,077.24. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brett P. Milkie sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.35, for a total value of $661,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 80,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,315,029.50. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,931 shares of company stock valued at $6,080,458 in the last 90 days. 39.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Buckle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Buckle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,311,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,638,000 after purchasing an additional 24,051 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Buckle by 4.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,100,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,589,000 after buying an additional 90,190 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Buckle by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,341,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,566,000 after buying an additional 29,349 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Buckle by 5.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,338,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,849,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Buckle by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,216,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,509,000 after acquiring an additional 48,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

Buckle Stock Performance

NYSE BKE traded down $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $47.78. The stock had a trading volume of 372,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,246. Buckle has a 12 month low of $34.87 and a 12 month high of $49.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.14.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 23rd. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $282.39 million for the quarter. Buckle had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 46.17%.

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. Buckle’s payout ratio is 34.15%.

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.