Range Financial Group LLC Purchases New Stake in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impala Asset Management LLC raised its position in Buckle by 43.3% during the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 365,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,049,000 after purchasing an additional 110,273 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Buckle during the 3rd quarter worth $4,753,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Buckle by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,100,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,589,000 after buying an additional 90,190 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Buckle by 14.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 716,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,452,000 after buying an additional 87,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Buckle by 5.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,338,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,849,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares during the last quarter. 53.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.90, for a total value of $877,433.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,822,546 shares in the company, valued at $78,187,223.40. This represents a 1.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen B. Rhoads sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $490,485.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 214,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,053,415.07. This represents a 4.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,812 shares of company stock valued at $5,560,809 in the last three months. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Buckle Stock Down 0.8 %

Buckle stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $50.74. The stock had a trading volume of 562,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,805. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.08. The Buckle, Inc. has a one year low of $34.87 and a one year high of $54.25.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $293.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.60 million. Buckle had a return on equity of 44.11% and a net margin of 16.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share.

Buckle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $2.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a yield of 2.6%. Buckle’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $31.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

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, Sterling & Stitch, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.