Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital downgraded Aaron’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aaron’s from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $15.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.36.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

AAN opened at $12.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.76 million, a PE ratio of -153.38 and a beta of 1.12. Aaron’s has a 52-week low of $7.64 and a 52-week high of $16.16.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $530.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.87 million. Aaron’s had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a positive return on equity of 6.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aaron’s will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aaron’s

In related news, Director John W. Robinson sold 3,928 shares of Aaron’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $54,992.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 316,604 shares in the company, valued at $4,432,456. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,955,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,209,000 after buying an additional 39,111 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,976,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,853,000 after acquiring an additional 221,788 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Aaron’s by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,743,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,660,000 after purchasing an additional 94,387 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,282,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,800,000 after buying an additional 12,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 1,249,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,662,000 after acquiring an additional 61,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.82% of the company’s stock.

Aaron’s Company Profile

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aaron’s Company, Inc (NYSE: AAN) is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Aaron’s engages in direct-to-consumer sales and lease ownership of furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and accessories through its approximately 1,300 company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com.