River Road Asset Management LLC Acquires 73,816 Shares of BlueLinx Holdings Inc.

River Road Asset Management LLC has bought a new stake in the company BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BXC) in the fourth quarter, according to its latest SEC filing. The firm bought 73,816 shares of the construction company’s stock, which was valued at approximately $7.54 million, and this represents 0.88% ownership of BlueLinx as per its most recent filing.

Institutional Investors’ Changes in Positions in BlueLinx

Some other institutional investors and hedge funds also changed their positions in BlueLinx:

• AlphaQuest LLC has grown its stake by 28.4%, and now owns 1,455 shares worth $149,000, up from 322 shares.
• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has made a new purchase of shares, which is approximately $61,000 for Q4.
• Raymond James Financial Inc. has made a new stake in BlueLinx of $3.45 million.
• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has made a strong growth of 19.6%, bringing its ownership to 199,871 shares at a total value of $20.42 million.
• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC made good growth of 11.1% to its stake, acquiring 3,433 shares at a share price of $351,000.

Overall, hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.83% of BlueLinx’s stock.

Analyst Ratings & Price Target Changes

Analysts have recently released some reports on BlueLinx:

• Benchmark has cut its price target to $120.00 from $135.00 while maintaining a buy rating on Feb 21.
• StockNews.com has changed its recommendation on BlueLinx from buy to hold on Feb 20.
• DA Davidson has lowered its price target to $119.00 from $137.00 and maintains a buy rating on the stock, according to a Feb 20 research note.
• Loop Capital also lowered its target price range to $135.00 to $120.00 and reaffirmed its buy rating on Feb 21.

At the moment, only one analyst has a hold rating on the stock while four have a buy rating. The stock has a mean rating of Moderate Buy and the average price target is $123.50 as per the rating given by MarketBeat.com.

BlueLinx Financial Highlights

As of Wednesday, the shares of NYSE:BXC were trading at $77.12. Some of the key financials are as follows:

• Current ratio: 4.85
• Quick ratio: 3.26
• Debt-to-equity ratio: 0.89
• Market capitalization: $639.69 million
• P/E ratio: 12.56
• Beta: 2.18

The stock has ranged from a low of $73.01 to a high of $134.79.

On February 18, BlueLinx announced its Q4 earnings and said:

• Earnings per share (EPS): $0.51, lower than the consensus estimate of $0.52.
• Revenue: $710.64 million, which is above the analyst consensus of $700.66 million.
• Net margin: 1.80%
• Return on equity: 7.50%

About BlueLinx Holdings

BlueLinx Holdings Inc. is a leading distributor of home and aggregate building products in the United States. Its product portfolio includes:

• Specialty products: Engineered wood, siding, millwork, outdoor living, specialty lumber and industrial products.
• Structural products: Lumber, plywood, OSB (oriented strand board), rebar, remesh and other construction products that are essential.

Conclusion

Although BlueLinx still has the attention of institutional investors, the recent analyst downgrades and price target decreases are a sign of caution in the market. The pros of future earnings reports and macro environment that affects the construction industry will be watched closely.