Short Interest in The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Increases By 14.5%

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 612,600 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the May 15th total of 535,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 238,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aaron’s

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,108,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,896,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aaron’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,879,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 25.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,056,000 after acquiring an additional 164,392 shares during the period. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 160.9% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 200,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 123,839 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Aaron’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Cowen 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 Monday. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Aaron’s in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.02.

Aaron’s Stock Up 33.4 %

AAN stock opened at $10.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.03. Aaron’s has a fifty-two week low of $6.62 and a fifty-two week high of $16.16.

Aaron’s (NYSE:AAN) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.08). Aaron’s had a positive return on equity of 0.02% and a negative net margin of 1.15%. The firm had revenue of $511.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $521.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aaron’s will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently -63.29%.

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.