Huttig Building Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBP)

HBP ($7.39) shares have pulled back over the last several trading days after reporting a Q1 2017 loss on increased sales. See the company’s full results here. The Company stated it is making meaningful investments to accelerate its growth strategy:

“Our first quarter results show the continued growth of our business and an increase in operating expenses resulting from the continued, meaningful investments we are making in our accelerated growth strategy,” said Jon Vrabely, President and CEO of Huttig Building Products.  “While these investments are negatively impacting our short-term results, they are truly transformational in nature and provide the best opportunity to generate significant, sustained, profitable growth in the intermediate term.”

The stock may suffer medium term losses, but we will watch it closely for further pullbacks to possibly begin establishing a position. We like what management has accomplished over the last several years to turn things around.  On April 19, 2016 we issued our issued our RFT (“Reasons For Tracking”) when the stock was trading at near $4.38.   We never pulled the trigger, but the stock more than doubled at its highs.  

First Quarter 2016 Results

• Sales of $158.8 million vs $147.4 million
• Non GAAP EPS of $0.08 vs $0.02

Quotes from management:

"We had another strong quarter and are off to a great start in 2016," said Jon Vrabely, Huttig President and CEO. "We continued to execute our strategic plan delivering our 20th consecutive quarterly improvement over the prior year's quarter, excluding unusual items. In addition, our acquisition of BenBilt Building Systems significantly increases our geographic coverage in the Mid-Atlantic and strengthens our position as the largest value-add millwork wholesale distributor and door fabricator in the country."