North Star Investment Management Corp. Reduces Stock Position in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. $BBW

North Star Investment Management Corp. lessened its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) by 35.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,325 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 45,000 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned 0.62% of Build-A-Bear Workshop worth $4,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Build-A-Bear Workshop in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 138.1% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 115,885 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,307,000 after acquiring an additional 67,205 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 7,245 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Build-A-Bear Workshop in the first quarter valued at $850,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 43.0% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $923,000 after acquiring an additional 7,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Build-A-Bear Workshop

In other news, CEO Sharon Price John sold 30,000 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 261,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,140,591.25. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 10,000 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 67,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,980,340.75. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,387 shares of company stock valued at $4,053,961 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BBW. Wall Street Zen cut Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 23rd. Northland Securities increased their target price on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research raised Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $64.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Build-A-Bear Workshop presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Trading Up 1.0%

Build-A-Bear Workshop stock opened at $73.01 on Thursday. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.72 and a 1-year high of $75.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.67 and a 200-day moving average of $48.44. The firm has a market cap of $958.60 million, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.72.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.27. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 41.14%. The business had revenue of $124.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 25th. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.73%.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Profile

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.