First Trust Advisors LP Has $35.10 Million Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 813,154 shares of the company’s stock after selling 305,496 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.56% of Blue Bird worth $35,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $341,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 7.2% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,158 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at $102,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Monday, November 3rd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Blue Bird from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.60.

Blue Bird Stock Up 0.3%

BLBD stock opened at $50.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $61.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.42.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $409.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.37 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 62.87% and a net margin of 8.63%.The business’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current 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.