Ballentine Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. $BBW

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC acquired 5,100 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, valued at approximately $263,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Insider activity includes the CFO and CEO selling 40,000 shares at an average price of $73.25, leading to significant decreases in their respective ownership stakes.
• Research analysts have revised their ratings, with Northland Securities raising the price target to $80.00 and Zacks Research upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" rating.

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in Build-A-Bear Workshop during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 106.1% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 814 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 3,357.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,331 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Build-A-Bear Workshop during the first quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Build-A-Bear Workshop

In related news, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.25, for a total transaction of $732,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 67,991 shares in the company, valued at $4,980,340.75. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sharon Price John sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.25, for a total transaction of $2,197,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,140,591.25. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,387 shares of company stock worth $4,053,961 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BBW shares. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Build-A-Bear Workshop from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Build-A-Bear Workshop from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $64.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE BBW opened at $72.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.12. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.20 and a 12-month high of $75.85. The firm has a market cap of $956.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.72.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $124.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.19 million. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 41.14% and a net margin of 11.34%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 25th. Build-A-Bear Workshop's dividend payout ratio is 19.73%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.