Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 545 Shares of BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BXC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BXC) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,047 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BlueLinx were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in BlueLinx by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 554,458 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,828,000 after purchasing an additional 17,891 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlueLinx in the 1st quarter valued at $4,195,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of BlueLinx during the 1st quarter valued at $1,501,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in BlueLinx during the first quarter worth $1,076,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in BlueLinx by 70.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 62,627 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,157,000 after purchasing an additional 25,972 shares during the period. 90.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BXC. DA Davidson raised their target price on BlueLinx from $121.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised BlueLinx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on BlueLinx from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of BlueLinx in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.67.

BlueLinx Price Performance

BXC stock opened at $102.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a current ratio of 4.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.04. The company has a market capitalization of $884.22 million, a P/E ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 1.95. BlueLinx Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.76 and a 52-week high of $132.67.

BlueLinx (NYSE:BXC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BlueLinx had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 1.26%. The business had revenue of $768.36 million during the quarter.

BlueLinx Company Profile

BlueLinx Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of residential and commercial building products in the United States. It distributes specialty products, including engineered wood, siding, millwork, outdoor living, specialty lumber and panels, and industrial products; and structural products, such as lumber, plywood, oriented strand boards, rebars and remesh, as well as other wood products that are used for structural support in construction projects.