Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 941 Shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,270 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Buckle were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKE. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Buckle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $308,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Buckle by 187.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 20,879 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Buckle during the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Oldfather Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Buckle by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 46,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 20,256 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Buckle by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

Buckle Price Performance

Buckle stock traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 123,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,296. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.82. The Buckle, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.18 and a 12 month high of $48.15.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $382.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $383.63 million. Buckle had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 50.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share.

Buckle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. Buckle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Buckle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th.

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, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B.