D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 210,040 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,530 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.65% of Blue Bird worth $8,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. FMR LLC lifted its position in Blue Bird by 162.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998,453 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after buying an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 355.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,126,000 after acquiring an additional 689,394 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,227,000 after acquiring an additional 312,493 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.10. 51,711 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,249. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $35.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.62. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG 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.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $348.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Company 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.