Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 527,289 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,460 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.64% of Blue Bird worth $20,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Blue Bird by 355.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 14,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,754 shares of the company's stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Up 1.9 %

Blue Bird stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.94. 516,084 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,716. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.