Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Position Trimmed by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,811 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.36% of Blue Bird worth $4,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $366,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,683,000. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Blue Bird by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 823,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,525,000 after purchasing an additional 179,500 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 88.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 369,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,354,000 after purchasing an additional 173,253 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $53.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.64. Blue Bird Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $61.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.24.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The company had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,983.54. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,342,183. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLBD. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.58.

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.