Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Buys 4,500 Shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC boosted its stake in The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,240 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC owned about 0.15% of Aaron’s worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Aaron’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 314.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 239.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 5,915 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aaron’s during the 4th quarter worth $123,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Aaron’s by 172.8% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 12,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 7,735 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAN shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Sunday, September 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Aaron’s in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.46.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

Shares of Aaron’s stock opened at $10.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.64. The Aaron’s Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.62 and a 1-year high of $11.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $316.48 million, a P/E ratio of -12.71 and a beta of 1.43.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $503.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $513.91 million. Aaron’s had a negative return on equity of 2.08% and a negative net margin of 2.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Aaron’s Company, Inc. will post -0.01 EPS for the current year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.