Voya Investment Management LLC Has $281,000 Stake in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 946 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,760,000 after acquiring an additional 468,936 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth about $8,298,000. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 7,161.9% in the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 231,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,152,000 after acquiring an additional 228,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 1,879.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 186,799 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total transaction of $532,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,881.63. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,445,960. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 137,392 shares of company stock worth $7,794,083. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLBD. Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.79.

Blue Bird Price Performance

BLBD stock opened at $57.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $61.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.92.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.