Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBDFree Report) by 78.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,446 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.09% of Blue Bird worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,977,000 after buying an additional 2,998,453 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,933,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,683,000 after purchasing an additional 241,117 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 355.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Blue Bird

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $43.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.34 and a 200 day moving average of $37.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $55.60.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBDGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 64.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $451,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,630,193.57. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $554,151.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 270,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,149 shares of company stock worth $1,369,666. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD)

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