Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,648 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,289 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Blue Bird worth $1,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Blue Bird by 2,090.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BLBD shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 15,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $775,510.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 225,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,363,911.70. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 7,984 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total value of $402,313.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 49,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,493.93. This trade represents a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $59.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.81. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $61.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.31.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 57.60%. The company had revenue of $333.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.