AM Investment Strategies LLC Invests $180,000 in The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN)

AM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Aaron’s by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 912,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,550,000 after buying an additional 50,301 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Aaron’s by 18.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,181,000 after acquiring an additional 76,905 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Aaron’s by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 407,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 55,740 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aaron’s by 16.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 406,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 56,094 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Estates Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Aaron’s by 50.0% in the third quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 228,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 76,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Aaron’s Price Performance

AAN stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $7.32. The stock had a trading volume of 180,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,456. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.06. The Aaron’s Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.72 and a 1-year high of $16.16. The stock has a market cap of $230.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.50 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $529.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.07 million. Aaron’s had a net margin of 0.13% and a return on equity of 3.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Aaron’s Company, Inc. will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 625.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Aaron’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Aaron’s from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on Aaron’s in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Stephens raised Aaron’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.67.

Aaron’s 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.