10,522 Shares in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Bought by Cetera Investment Advisers

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has acquired 10,522 shares of Blue Bird Corporation, valued at approximately $341,000, marking a new position for the firm in the first quarter.
• Blue Bird recently reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, surpassing expectations of $0.90, with revenues also exceeding forecasts at $398.01 million.
• Insider selling has been noted, with SVP Ted Scartz and CFO Razvan Radulescu selling shares, totaling significant transactions that decreased their ownership percentages.

Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 4.9% in 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. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BLBD stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, hitting $55.31. The stock had a trading volume of 752,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 815,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.50. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $60.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $46.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.86.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The firm had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total transaction of $490,187.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $42,014.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 47,503 shares in the company, valued at $2,851,130.06. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,832 shares of company stock valued at $7,559,425 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.