Wall Street Zen Upgrades TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) to “Hold”

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut TrueBlue from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $5.50 target price on TrueBlue in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of TrueBlue in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.75.

TrueBlue Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE TBI opened at $3.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.89. TrueBlue has a 52 week low of $3.18 and a 52 week high of $7.78. The stock has a market cap of $120.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.50, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $418.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.31 million. TrueBlue had a negative net margin of 2.97% and a negative return on equity of 6.87%. On average, research analysts predict that TrueBlue will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Carl Schweihs bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.72 per share, with a total value of $46,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 289,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,075,336.68. This represents a 4.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Taryn R. Owen bought 20,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.79 per share, with a total value of $77,316.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 791,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,948.53. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of TrueBlue

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in TrueBlue during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Simplex Trading LLC grew its position in shares of TrueBlue by 56.9% during the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3,995 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of TrueBlue during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in TrueBlue in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its stake in TrueBlue by 601.2% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 8,195 shares during the last quarter. 97.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TrueBlue Company Profile

TrueBlue, Inc is a Tacoma, Washington–based workforce solutions provider specializing in temporary staffing, permanent placement and managed service solutions. Operating through its subsidiaries and brands, TrueBlue connects clients across manufacturing, logistics, retail, construction and public sector markets with skilled professionals for both short-term and long-term engagements. The company’s offerings encompass on-demand blue-collar labor, specialized industrial staffing, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and contingent workforce management.

TrueBlue’s primary service lines include PeopleReady, which supplies general labor for construction, hospitality and event services; PeopleManagement, which focuses on technical and industrial professionals; PeopleScout, a global RPO business offering end-to-end talent acquisition and consulting; and Staff Management | SMX, which delivers seasonal staffing for large-scale events, amusement parks and federal workforce contracts.