Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 887,900 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the October 15th total of 835,400 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 307,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 1,262,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $26,512,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,542,650 shares in the company, valued at $137,395,650. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Coliseum Capital Management, L sold 1,237,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $25,987,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 1,262,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $26,512,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,542,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,395,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 113.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 198.6% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 89.7% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 325.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLBD shares. R. F. Lafferty started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Friday, August 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.50 price objective for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Monday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $25.88.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $18.85 on Friday. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $8.91 and a fifty-two week high of $28.80. The company has a market capitalization of $606.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.66 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.13, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.92.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells school buses and related parts in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Bus and Parts. The company offers Type C, Type D, and specialty buses; and alternative fuel applications through its propane powered, gasoline powered, compressed natural gas powered, and electric powered school buses, as well as diesel engines.