Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. $BBW Shares Bought by Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc.

Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) by 28.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,599 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 25,782 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop were worth $4,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,000. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 138.1% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 115,885 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,307,000 after purchasing an additional 67,205 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 62.7% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop in the 1st quarter valued at $850,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 24,836 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 7,467 shares in the last quarter. 79.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BBW. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 23rd. Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $64.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Build-A-Bear Workshop currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Build-A-Bear Workshop

In related news, Director Lesli Rotenberg sold 1,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.52, for a total value of $93,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,825 shares in the company, valued at $632,874. This trade represents a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig Leavitt sold 8,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.21, for a total transaction of $414,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,634,802.32. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Price Performance

NYSE BBW opened at $64.54 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.52. The company has a market capitalization of $852.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.72. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.32 and a 12 month high of $70.01.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $0.94 earnings per share (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 42.37%. The company had revenue of $124.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.73%.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Company 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.