Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Reduces Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in Blue Bird Corporation by 59.8% in the first quarter, selling 36,057 shares and leaving it with about 24,209 shares valued at $784,000.
• Various investors have shown increased interest in Blue Bird, with Allspring Global Investments significantly raising its stake by 1,879.3%, now holding 196,739 shares valued at $6,479,000.
• Blue Bird Corporation reported earnings of $1.19 per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue increasing 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 59.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,209 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,057 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Blue Bird worth $784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 18.2% during the first quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 47,202 shares of the company's stock worth $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter worth about $5,888,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 561.0% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 157.0% during the first quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 43,441 shares of the company's stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 26,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter worth about $291,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total value of $532,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,564,881.63. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,832 shares of company stock valued at $7,559,425. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $58.39. 566,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,214. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61. Blue Bird Corporation has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $60.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The business had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Blue Bird's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLBD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research 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 raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.36.

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.