Short Interest in TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE:TBI) Drops By 17.9%

TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE:TBI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 828,800 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the December 15th total of 1,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 181,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of TrueBlue from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of TrueBlue from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th.

TrueBlue Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of TrueBlue stock opened at $8.06 on Friday. TrueBlue has a 52 week low of $6.63 and a 52 week high of $14.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $7.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.31.

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The business services provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $382.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.07 million. TrueBlue had a negative net margin of 6.97% and a negative return on equity of 2.69%. TrueBlue’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that TrueBlue will post -0.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TrueBlue

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TBI. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in TrueBlue by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,082,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,538,000 after purchasing an additional 239,740 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in TrueBlue by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,742,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,748,000 after purchasing an additional 158,967 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of TrueBlue by 330.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 143,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 110,495 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of TrueBlue by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 220,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 101,589 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of TrueBlue by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 386,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 96,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.15% of the company’s stock.

TrueBlue Company Profile

TrueBlue, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The company PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade contingent staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and renewable energy industries.