Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 73,853 Shares of Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC sold 73,853 shares of Builders FirstSource, reducing their holdings by 84.6%, leaving them with 13,434 shares valued at approximately $1.68 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their stakes in Builders FirstSource, with 95.53% of the stock now owned by such investors, indicating strong institutional confidence.
• Builders FirstSource reported $2.38 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, and has a stock buyback plan in place to repurchase up to $500 million in shares.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource, Inc. (NYSE:BLDR - Free Report) by 84.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,434 shares of the company's stock after selling 73,853 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Builders FirstSource were worth $1,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Builders FirstSource in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Builders FirstSource in the first quarter worth $40,000. CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of Builders FirstSource in the first quarter worth $45,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Builders FirstSource in the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource by 19.7% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 595 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 95.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Builders FirstSource Stock Performance

Shares of BLDR stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,329,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,775. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $121.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Builders FirstSource, Inc. has a one year low of $102.60 and a one year high of $203.14. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Builders FirstSource declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLDR has been the subject of several research reports. Zelman & Associates reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Builders FirstSource in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Baird R W cut Builders FirstSource from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Builders FirstSource from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson set a $125.00 target price on Builders FirstSource and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Builders FirstSource in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Builders FirstSource news, Director Paul S. Levy purchased 283,517 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 1,672,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,019,521.27. This represents a 20.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dirkson R. Charles purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $109.67 per share, for a total transaction of $548,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $548,350. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 505,000 shares of company stock worth $56,032,120 over the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Builders FirstSource Company 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.