Driehaus Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 300,933 shares of the company's stock after selling 305,341 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned 0.94% of Blue Bird worth $11,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.7%

BLBD stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.59. 395,305 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 656,157. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. Blue Bird Co. has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $34.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.67.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Blue Bird's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current 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.