Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Builders FirstSource from $188.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Builders FirstSource in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Builders FirstSource from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Builders FirstSource from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Builders FirstSource from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.43.

Builders FirstSource Price Performance

Builders FirstSource stock traded up $6.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,055,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,960. The company has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 2.06. Builders FirstSource has a fifty-two week low of $105.24 and a fifty-two week high of $214.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.74.

Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.48. Builders FirstSource had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Builders FirstSource will post 11.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Builders FirstSource announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 5.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Builders FirstSource news, Director Craig Arthur Steinke sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.68, for a total value of $4,610,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,650,775.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Builders FirstSource

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLDR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Builders FirstSource by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,668,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,448,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985,297 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Builders FirstSource during the fourth quarter valued at about $212,209,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Builders FirstSource by 339.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,180,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,373,000 after acquiring an additional 911,990 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Builders FirstSource by 477,028.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 448,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,535,000 after acquiring an additional 448,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Builders FirstSource in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.53% of the company’s stock.

Builders FirstSource Company Profile

Builders FirstSource, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and supplies building materials, manufactured components, and construction services to professional homebuilders, sub-contractors, remodelers, and consumers in the United States. It offers lumber and lumber sheet goods comprising dimensional lumber, plywood, and oriented strand board products that are used in on-site house framing; manufactured products, such as wood floor and roof trusses, floor trusses, wall panels, stairs, and engineered wood products; and windows, and interior and exterior door units, as well as interior trims and custom products comprising intricate mouldings, stair parts, and columns under the Synboard brand name.