Insider Selling: The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) CEO Sells 20,453 Shares of Stock

The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.57, for a total value of $1,054,761.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,739,734 shares in the company, valued at $89,718,082.38. This trade represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Buckle Stock Up 0.0 %

Buckle stock opened at $50.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.26. The Buckle, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.87 and a 52-week high of $54.25. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Buckle Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Buckle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKE. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $77,589,000 after buying an additional 90,190 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Buckle by 2.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,341,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,566,000 after acquiring an additional 29,349 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Buckle by 5.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,338,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,849,000 after acquiring an additional 72,532 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Buckle by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,216,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,509,000 after purchasing an additional 48,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Buckle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 799,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,142,000 after purchasing an additional 36,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKE shares. StockNews.com raised Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised shares of Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $31.00 to $46.00 in a 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.