Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 27,000 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 236,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Blue Bird worth $7,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 100.0% in 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 lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $85,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 5,165.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 8,860 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 owns 270,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,112,236.64. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.80. The stock had a trading volume of 318,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,435. Blue Bird Co. has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $57.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. The company 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 business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLBD shares. 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.