Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Stake in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Blue Bird Corporation by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 4.23% of the company valued at $43.98 million.
• Recent insider sales include SVP Ted Scartz selling 8,877 shares and Director Phil Horlock selling 30,000 shares, which represents a significant decrease in their holdings.
• Analysts have raised the stock's rating from "hold" to "strong-buy," with a consensus price target of $57.36, following a reported earnings per share of $1.19 for the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,358,691 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,569 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 4.23% of Blue Bird worth $43,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,423,000 after buying an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,906,000 after buying an additional 544,248 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 24.3% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,760,000 after buying an additional 468,936 shares in the last quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 540.2% in the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 540,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,877,000 after buying an additional 456,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,227,000 after buying an additional 312,493 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BLBD. Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. 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 report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total transaction of $532,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,881.63. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,832 shares of company stock valued at $7,559,425 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $58.90. The stock had a trading volume of 306,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,063. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.50. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $60.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

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.