The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 378,699 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64,307 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.75% of Buckle worth $13,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Buckle by 4.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,574,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,832,000 after purchasing an additional 199,559 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Buckle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,140,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,715,000 after purchasing an additional 13,397 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Buckle by 6.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,122,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,094,000 after purchasing an additional 69,714 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Buckle by 167.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,047,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,598,000 after purchasing an additional 655,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Buckle by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 875,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,723,000 after purchasing an additional 67,218 shares during the last quarter. 53.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Brett P. Milkie sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.89, for a total transaction of $568,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 80,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,060,375.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 40.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKE. StockNews.com upgraded Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Buckle from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st.

Buckle Price Performance

Buckle stock opened at $36.91 on Friday. The Buckle, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $50.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.08.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.11. Buckle had a return on equity of 57.52% and a net margin of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $292.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Buckle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 28th. Investors of record on Friday, July 14th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 13th. Buckle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

Buckle 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, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.