The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Short Interest Update

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, an increase of 13.4% from the August 31st total of 3,500,000 shares. Approximately 13.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 840,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAN has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Aaron’s in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.46.

Aaron’s Trading Down 1.0 %

AAN stock opened at $9.95 on Tuesday. Aaron’s has a twelve month low of $6.62 and a twelve month high of $11.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.59 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.81.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last posted 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 company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aaron’s will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -63.29%.

Institutional Trading of Aaron’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAN. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Aaron’s by 314.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 3,870 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 239.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 172.8% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 12,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in Aaron’s during the first quarter valued at about $115,000. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.