StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

AAN has been the topic of several other reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $10.10 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aaron’s currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $9.46.

Aaron’s Price Performance

AAN stock opened at $10.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $318.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.87. Aaron’s has a 1 year low of $6.62 and a 1 year high of $11.90.

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

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently -63.29%.

Institutional Trading of Aaron’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Aaron’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $109,000. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,711,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aaron’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $320,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aaron’s by 139.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 392,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,916,000 after acquiring an additional 228,678 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Aaron’s during the second quarter worth $2,096,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

About Aaron’s

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.