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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TBI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 upgraded shares of TrueBlue from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th.

TrueBlue Trading Down 2.6 %

TBI traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $7.82. The stock had a trading volume of 113,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,278. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $7.84 and a 200-day moving average of $8.28. TrueBlue has a fifty-two week low of $6.63 and a fifty-two week high of $14.91. The company has a market capitalization of $231.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.43.

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The business services provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.04. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that TrueBlue will post -0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TrueBlue

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in TrueBlue by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 665,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,254,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in TrueBlue by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 130,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in shares of TrueBlue by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 22,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of TrueBlue by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of TrueBlue by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 48,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 7,479 shares in the last quarter. 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.