Short Interest in The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE:AAN) Increases By 13.4%

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Aaron’s by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 31,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Aaron’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aaron’s by 15.8% in the first quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Aaron’s by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 166,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Aaron’s by 314.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870 shares during the period. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AAN opened at $9.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.81. The stock has a market cap of $313.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aaron’s has a 12 month low of $6.62 and a 12 month high of $11.90.

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

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAN shares. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Aaron’s in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aaron’s in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aaron’s from $8.00 to $10.10 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aaron’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.46.

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.