Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Position in Buckle, Inc. (The) $BKE

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Buckle, Inc. (The) (NYSE:BKE) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,262 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,054 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Buckle were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Buckle by 1.4% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 21,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Buckle by 6.1% in the first quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 10,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Buckle by 1,928.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Buckle by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Buckle by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 53.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Buckle Trading Up 0.0%

Buckle stock opened at $57.56 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.53. Buckle, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.12 and a 52 week high of $61.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Buckle (NYSE:BKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.61 million. Buckle had a net margin of 16.12% and a return on equity of 43.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS.

Buckle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. Buckle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Brett P. Milkie sold 6,000 shares of Buckle stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.17, for a total value of $361,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 89,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,389,426.90. The trade was a 6.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Peetz sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total value of $83,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,316,746.02. The trade was a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,500 shares of company stock worth $3,320,030 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKE has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Buckle in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Buckle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Buckle from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Buckle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

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.