Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Holdings in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holdings in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,062 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Buckle were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKE. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Buckle by 52.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Buckle by 119.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Buckle by 38.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Buckle by 217.4% during the second quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 2,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Buckle by 2,350.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. 53.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BKE shares. UBS Group raised shares of Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Buckle Price Performance

Buckle stock opened at $54.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.35. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.14. The Buckle, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.87 and a 1-year high of $54.13.

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

Buckle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Buckle’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Insider Transactions at Buckle

In related news, SVP Brett P. Milkie sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.35, for a total value of $661,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 80,170 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,029.50. The trade was a 16.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total transaction of $854,526.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,904,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,564,077.24. This trade represents a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,765 shares of company stock valued at $5,524,118 in the last quarter. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Buckle Profile

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.