Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Position in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,374 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Buckle were worth $70,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Buckle by 60.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 938 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Buckle by 6.8% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 7,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Buckle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Buckle by 38.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Buckle by 72.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 53.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Buckle

In other Buckle news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total transaction of $1,087,690.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,781,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,747,615.20. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen B. Rhoads sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total value of $490,485.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 214,089 shares in the company, valued at $11,053,415.07. This trade represents a 4.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 114,042 shares of company stock valued at $5,757,836. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Buckle Stock Performance

Buckle stock opened at $41.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.14. The Buckle, Inc. has a one year low of $34.87 and a one year high of $54.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.09 and a 200 day moving average of $46.01.

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

Buckle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $2.50 per share. This represents a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Buckle’s payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

Buckle Company 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.