Malibu Boats, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBUU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Malibu Boats has an average analyst rating of Hold from seven firms (1 sell, 5 hold, 1 buy) with a 12‑month consensus price target of $32.33.
• In the latest quarter the company slightly beat estimates — reported EPS of ($0.02) vs. consensus ($0.03) and revenue of $188.6M vs. $181.96M — but revenue was down 5.8% year‑over‑year and net margin remains thin at 1.76%.
• The Board authorized a $70.0 million share buyback (up to ~12.4% of shares), and institutional investors now own about 91.35% of the stock.

Malibu Boats, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBUU - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.3333.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MBUU shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Malibu Boats from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Malibu Boats in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Malibu Boats from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Loop Capital started coverage on Malibu Boats in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Griffin Securities set a $30.00 price target on Malibu Boats in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Malibu Boats Stock Performance

Shares of MBUU opened at $27.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $509.64 million, a PE ratio of 37.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.90. Malibu Boats has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $39.65.

Malibu Boats (NASDAQ:MBUU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $188.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.96 million. Malibu Boats had a return on equity of 4.25% and a net margin of 1.76%.Malibu Boats's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Malibu Boats will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Malibu Boats declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, December 19th that permits the company to buyback $70.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 12.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Malibu Boats

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Malibu Boats by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,688,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,621,000 after acquiring an additional 359,550 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in shares of Malibu Boats by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,544,091 shares of the company's stock worth $50,106,000 after acquiring an additional 170,178 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Malibu Boats by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 665,373 shares of the company's stock worth $18,770,000 after acquiring an additional 159,748 shares during the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Malibu Boats by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 885,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,719,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Malibu Boats by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 361,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 86,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.35% of the company's stock.

Malibu Boats Company Profile

Malibu Boats, Inc is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of performance sport boats for the recreational boating market. The company's product portfolio includes the premium Malibu® brand and the value-oriented Axis® Wake Research line, as well as Cobalt® boats following its 2020 acquisition. Malibu's vessels are engineered to serve water-sports enthusiasts, with models optimized for wakeboarding, wakesurfing and waterskiing.

Founded in 1982 by water-sports enthusiast Jack Springer, Malibu Boats is headquartered in Loudon, Tennessee.

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