The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.11.

AAN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Aaron’s from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aaron’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stephens raised shares of Aaron’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aaron’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 80.0% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 2,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 93,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 90,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 7.3% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 21,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 75,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Aaron’s Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AAN opened at $7.29 on Tuesday. Aaron’s has a 52-week low of $6.72 and a 52-week high of $16.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.63 and a 200 day moving average of $9.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.40 million, a PE ratio of 91.06 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.29). Aaron’s had a return on equity of 3.59% and a net margin of 0.13%. The company had revenue of $529.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $542.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aaron’s will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio is 625.00%.

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.