American Century Companies Inc. Has $97.85 Million Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 40.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,267,131 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647,637 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 7.15% of Blue Bird worth $97,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 159.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 993 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter worth $102,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $385,163.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 40,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,341,983.54. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total value of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,210,009.32. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $51.84 on Wednesday. Blue Bird Corporation has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $61.95. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.28 and a 200-day moving average of $49.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $409.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.37 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 67.50%. Blue Bird’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. Blue Bird has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price objective on Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.60.

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.