Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 737,890 Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. $BBW

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) by 5,113.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 752,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 737,890 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Build-A-Bear Workshop worth $38,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BBW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 995,693 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,010,000 after purchasing an additional 13,713 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 42.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 19,743 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop during the first quarter valued at about $1,538,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 58,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 3,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,131,000. 79.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. CJS Securities assumed coverage on Build-A-Bear Workshop in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.75.

Insider Transactions at Build-A-Bear Workshop

In related news, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 2,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total value of $200,010.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 65,247 shares in the company, valued at $4,755,853.83. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Leavitt sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.61, for a total transaction of $242,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 64,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,887,646.62. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,387 shares of company stock worth $1,487,721. 5.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:BBW opened at $52.60 on Tuesday. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.55 and a 12 month high of $75.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.63. The company has a market capitalization of $681.16 million, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.01.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $122.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.28 million. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 38.43% and a net margin of 10.93%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.23%.

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.