Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,308 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Blue Bird worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 5,165.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLBD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $42.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.01. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.41.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $358.85 million for 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%. Blue Bird’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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blue Bird Profile

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.