New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 55,740 Shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 407,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,740 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aaron’s were worth $4,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAN. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 80.0% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 2,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Aaron’s during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 231.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 54,820.0% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Aaron’s during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aaron’s Stock Up 2.4 %

AAN opened at $6.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.32 and its 200 day moving average is $8.93. The Aaron’s Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.69 and a fifty-two week high of $16.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.86 million, a P/E ratio of 86.88 and a beta of 1.31.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.29). Aaron’s had a net margin of 0.13% and a return on equity of 3.59%. The firm had revenue of $529.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $542.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Aaron’s Company, Inc. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Aaron’s’s payout ratio is currently 625.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Aaron’s from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aaron’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.67.

About Aaron’s

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.