Buckle (NYSE:BKE) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Buckle (NYSE:BKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Separately, UBS Group downgraded shares of Buckle from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

Buckle Stock Performance

Shares of BKE opened at $36.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 1.23. Buckle has a fifty-two week low of $30.18 and a fifty-two week high of $48.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.67.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $382.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $383.63 million. Buckle had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 50.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS.

Buckle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. Buckle’s payout ratio is currently 31.75%.

Institutional Trading of Buckle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 89,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 22,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,758,000 after buying an additional 17,592 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Buckle by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

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.