Cetera Investment Advisers Grows Holdings in Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Builders FirstSource, Inc. by 23.4% during the first quarter, owning 49,223 shares valued at approximately $6.15 million.
• Several other large investors, including HighPoint Advisor Group and Aptus Capital Advisors, also elevated their holdings in Builders FirstSource in the fourth quarter.
• Builders FirstSource announced a $500 million stock repurchase program, indicating the board's belief that the company's shares are undervalued.

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR - Free Report) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,223 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,323 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Builders FirstSource were worth $6,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 3.8% during the first quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,391 shares of the company's stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 19.7% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 595 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.53% of the company's stock.

Builders FirstSource Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BLDR traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,238,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,013. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $121.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.68. Builders FirstSource, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.60 and a 12-month high of $203.14.

Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. Builders FirstSource had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 24.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Builders FirstSource, Inc. will post 11.59 EPS for the current year.

Builders FirstSource declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Builders FirstSource

In other news, Director Paul S. Levy bought 283,517 shares of Builders FirstSource stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $111.21 per share, with a total value of $31,529,925.57. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,672,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $186,019,521.27. This trade represents a 20.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dirkson R. Charles bought 5,000 shares of Builders FirstSource stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $109.67 per share, for a total transaction of $548,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $548,350. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 505,000 shares of company stock worth $56,032,120 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BLDR. DA Davidson set a $125.00 target price on shares of Builders FirstSource and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Zelman & Associates restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Builders FirstSource in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Builders FirstSource from $190.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Oppenheimer set a $155.00 price target on shares of Builders FirstSource and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Builders FirstSource from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.16.

Builders FirstSource Profile

Builders FirstSource, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and supplies building materials, manufactured components, and construction services to professional homebuilders, sub-contractors, remodelers, and consumers in the United States. It offers lumber and lumber sheet goods comprising dimensional lumber, plywood, and oriented strand board products that are used in on-site house framing; manufactured products, such as wood floor and roof trusses, floor trusses, wall panels, stairs, and engineered wood products; and windows, and interior and exterior door units, as well as interior trims and custom products comprising intricate mouldings, stair parts, and columns under the Synboard brand name.