Franklin Resources Inc. Makes New $282,000 Investment in Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,876 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BBW. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop by 705.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 346.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,295 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 211.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Build-A-Bear Workshop by 209.8% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,098 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 5,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Build-A-Bear Workshop

In other Build-A-Bear Workshop news, Director Craig Leavitt sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.36, for a total transaction of $103,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 78,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,232,987.12. The trade was a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vojin Todorovic sold 12,635 shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.42, for a total transaction of $447,531.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,212,416.90. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,781 shares of company stock valued at $3,414,758 over the last three months. 7.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BBW. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Build-A-Bear Workshop from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on Build-A-Bear Workshop from $38.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:BBW opened at $46.04 on Thursday. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.24 and a 52 week high of $48.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $618.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE:BBW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Build-A-Bear Workshop had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 10.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Build-A-Bear Workshop announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to buy up to 23.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Build-A-Bear Workshop’s payout ratio is 21.28%.

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.