Malibu Boats (NASDAQ:MBUU) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Malibu Boats (NASDAQ:MBUU) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Griffin Securities set a $30.00 price target on Malibu Boats in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Malibu Boats from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Loop Capital began coverage on Malibu Boats in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Malibu Boats in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Malibu Boats presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Malibu Boats Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Malibu Boats stock opened at $24.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $449.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Malibu Boats has a 52-week low of $23.92 and a 52-week high of $39.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.42.

Malibu Boats (NASDAQ:MBUU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $188.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.96 million. Malibu Boats had a return on equity of 4.25% and a net margin of 1.76%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Malibu Boats will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Malibu Boats declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, December 19th that allows the company to repurchase $70.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 12.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Malibu Boats

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Malibu Boats during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,041,000. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake in Malibu Boats by 12.4% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,544,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,106,000 after purchasing an additional 170,178 shares in the last quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC boosted its stake in Malibu Boats by 12.7% in the third quarter. Lodge Hill Capital LLC now owns 885,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,719,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Malibu Boats by 28.6% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 505,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,408,000 after purchasing an additional 112,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management boosted its stake in Malibu Boats by 107.4% in the third quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 100,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 51,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.35% of the company’s stock.

About Malibu Boats

Malibu Boats, Inc is a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of performance sport boats for the recreational boating market. The company’s product portfolio includes the premium Malibu® brand and the value-oriented Axis® Wake Research line, as well as Cobalt® boats following its 2020 acquisition. Malibu’s vessels are engineered to serve water-sports enthusiasts, with models optimized for wakeboarding, wakesurfing and waterskiing.

Founded in 1982 by water-sports enthusiast Jack Springer, Malibu Boats is headquartered in Loudon, Tennessee.