Maverick Capital Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW)

Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) by 261.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,551 shares during the quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop were worth $3,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 705.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 211.8% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 17.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 25.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 209.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,484 shares during the period. 79.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George Carrara sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.27, for a total transaction of $90,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,421 shares in the company, valued at $668,129.67. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 12,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.42, for a total transaction of $447,531.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,212,416.90. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,734 shares of company stock worth $4,510,217 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Performance

Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock opened at $37.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.71. The company has a market cap of $513.62 million, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.54. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.24 and a fifty-two week high of $40.13.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 37.81%. The firm had revenue of $111.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 11th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 23.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.47%.

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.