Foundry Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW)

Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 48,680 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,000. Foundry Partners LLC owned about 0.36% of Build-A-Bear Workshop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop in the 4th quarter valued at $455,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,374,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 45,714 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 291,990 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,443,000 after purchasing an additional 61,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 10,428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.30% of the company’s stock.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBW opened at $36.43 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.88. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $48.23. The company has a market capitalization of $489.62 million, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.50.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.07. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 38.35%. The business had revenue of $150.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.53 million. Analysts forecast that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Build-A-Bear Workshop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $38.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Activity

In other Build-A-Bear Workshop news, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.08, for a total value of $200,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,455.60. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sharon Price John sold 68,859 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total value of $3,171,645.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,020,589.20. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,666 shares of company stock worth $7,010,081 in the last quarter. 7.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Build-A-Bear Workshop

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc operates as a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Commercial, and International Franchising. Its merchandise comprises various styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, and sounds and scents that can be added to the stuffed animals, as well as range of clothing, shoes and accessories, and other toy and novelty items, including family sleepwear.