Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 13.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,206,299 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 144,697 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $25,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLBD. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 41,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Blue Bird by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 65,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 3,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,204,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,664,000 after acquiring an additional 92,140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $36.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.36. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $17.37 and a 12 month high of $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.28.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. The business had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.00 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $34.58.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

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