AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Blue Bird Corporation by 13.2%, now holding about 0.84% of the company, valued at approximately $8.77 million.
• Insider trading activity includes Director Phil Horlock selling 13,000 shares and CFO Razvan Radulescu selling 6,709 shares, both resulting in significant decreases in their holdings.
• Blue Bird's recent quarterly earnings show an EPS of $1.19, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a 19.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $398.01 million.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,789 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,618 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.84% of Blue Bird worth $8,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 305,883 shares of the company's stock worth $11,816,000 after buying an additional 29,868 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 13,242 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 45,173 shares of the company's stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,142 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company's stock worth $30,227,000 after purchasing an additional 312,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 210,040 shares of the company's stock worth $8,114,000 after purchasing an additional 11,530 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Blue Bird Trading Down 0.5%

Blue Bird stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.96. The stock had a trading volume of 467,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,717. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.62. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $60.45. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.11.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The company's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total transaction of $490,187.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,794,083. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.