Aaron’s, Inc. (AAN) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) in a research note released on Sunday, July 30th, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $40.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAN. Jefferies Group LLC restated a buy rating on shares of Aaron’s, in a report on Sunday, July 30th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Aaron’s, from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Loop Capital reiterated a hold rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Aaron’s, in a research note on Sunday, April 23rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Aaron’s, from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded shares of Aaron’s, from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $42.50.

Shares of Aaron’s, (AAN) traded down 1.40% during trading on Friday, hitting $44.37. 183,628 shares of the stock traded hands. Aaron’s, has a 52-week low of $22.37 and a 52-week high of $48.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day moving average is $34.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80 and a beta of 0.17.

Aaron’s, (NYSE:AAN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.10. Aaron’s, had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $815.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Aaron’s, ‘s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aaron’s, will post $2.56 EPS for the current year.

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The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.027 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Aaron’s, ‘s payout ratio is currently 5.64%.

In other news, CEO John W. Robinson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $691,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,066,568.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven A. Michaels sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.26, for a total transaction of $231,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,095 shares in the company, valued at $2,826,254.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s, by 34.5% in the second quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Aaron’s, by 13.4% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s, by 5.0% in the first quarter. Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC now owns 3,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aaron’s, by 24.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrimTabs Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s, by 88.8% in the first quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC now owns 4,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 1,904 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aaron’s, Company Profile

Aaron’s, Inc (Aaron’s) is an omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. The Company engages in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories through its Company-operated and franchised stores in Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com.