PDT Partners LLC Acquires 41,704 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird Corporation by 69.8%, acquiring a total of 101,488 shares valued at approximately $3.29 million, while institutional investors currently hold 93.59% of the stock.
• Blue Bird reported $1.19 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.90, and experienced a 19.4% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Blue Bird, with one Strong Buy, six Buys, and two Holds, while Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating.

PDT Partners LLC lifted its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 69.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,488 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,704 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC owned about 0.32% of Blue Bird worth $3,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $456,000. EVR Research LP raised its stake in Blue Bird by 3.7% in the first quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 425,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,757,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 18.2% in the first quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 47,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 7,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,888,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BLBD. Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,341,983.54. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,541 shares of company stock worth $8,711,849. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of BLBD traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.83. The company had a trading volume of 332,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,498. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.33. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $60.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.62.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

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.