The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Short Interest Update

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 751,100 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the May 31st total of 612,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 501,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Aaron’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAN. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,896,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Aaron’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,879,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Aaron’s by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,056,000 after acquiring an additional 164,392 shares in the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in Aaron’s by 160.9% in the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 200,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 123,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aaron’s by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,005,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,938,000 after acquiring an additional 93,207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Monday, March 11th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Aaron’s in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on Aaron’s in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.70.

Aaron’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AAN stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.96. 827,363 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,481. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $313.94 million, a PE ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $8.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.81. Aaron’s has a 1 year low of $6.62 and a 1 year high of $16.16.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $511.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $521.05 million. Aaron’s had a positive return on equity of 0.02% and a negative net margin of 1.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aaron’s will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Aaron’s’s payout ratio is currently -63.29%.

Aaron’s Company Profile

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.