Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $7.65 Million Stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.74% of Blue Bird worth $7,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BLBD. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock worth $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,933,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,683,000 after purchasing an additional 241,117 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 355.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock worth $34,126,000 after acquiring an additional 689,394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 8,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.04, for a total value of $363,614.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 270,766 shares in the company, valued at $11,112,236.64. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Blue Bird stock traded up $0.24 on Tuesday, hitting $41.81. 260,795 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 632,394. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $37.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.40. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $57.80.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.79.

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.