KBC Group NV Buys 743 Shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) by 72.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,773 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Buckle were worth $90,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Buckle by 52.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. 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. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Buckle in the third quarter worth about $86,000. 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, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Buckle by 85.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.93% of the company’s stock.

Buckle Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BKE opened at $44.00 on Monday. The Buckle, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.87 and a 52-week high of $54.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.86.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $293.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Buckle Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised Buckle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Transactions at Buckle

In related news, CEO Dennis H. Nelson sold 20,453 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,781,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,747,615.20. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Peetz sold 2,500 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total value of $129,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,143,759.10. This represents a 10.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,589 shares of company stock worth $4,869,767 over the last three months. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.