TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

TBI has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $5.50 target price on TrueBlue in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research raised TrueBlue from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised TrueBlue from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.75.

TrueBlue Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of TBI stock opened at $5.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $171.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.14 and a 200-day moving average of $4.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. TrueBlue has a 1-year low of $3.18 and a 1-year high of $7.78.

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The business services provider reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $398.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.51 million. TrueBlue had a negative return on equity of 7.37% and a negative net margin of 3.25%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that TrueBlue will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at TrueBlue

In other news, CEO Taryn R. Owen purchased 20,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.79 per share, for a total transaction of $77,316.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 791,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,000,948.53. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Carl Schweihs purchased 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.72 per share, for a total transaction of $46,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 289,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,075,336.68. This represents a 4.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in TrueBlue in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TrueBlue by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC bought a new position in shares of TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 97.15% of the company’s stock.

TrueBlue Company Profile

TrueBlue, Inc is a Tacoma, Washington–based workforce solutions provider specializing in temporary staffing, permanent placement and managed service solutions. Operating through its subsidiaries and brands, TrueBlue connects clients across manufacturing, logistics, retail, construction and public sector markets with skilled professionals for both short-term and long-term engagements. The company’s offerings encompass on-demand blue-collar labor, specialized industrial staffing, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and contingent workforce management.

TrueBlue’s primary service lines include PeopleReady, which supplies general labor for construction, hospitality and event services; PeopleManagement, which focuses on technical and industrial professionals; PeopleScout, a global RPO business offering end-to-end talent acquisition and consulting; and Staff Management | SMX, which delivers seasonal staffing for large-scale events, amusement parks and federal workforce contracts.