Ruffer LLP Buys 6,789 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,018 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,789 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP owned 0.25% of Blue Bird worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 355.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,126,000 after acquiring an additional 689,394 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,175 shares of the company's stock worth $29,906,000 after purchasing an additional 544,248 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 540.2% in the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 540,435 shares of the company's stock worth $20,877,000 after purchasing an additional 456,015 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 66.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of BLBD stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $43.61. The company had a trading volume of 559,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,855. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $55.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.27. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.50.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 64.83% and a net margin of 7.97%. Blue Bird's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $451,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,630,193.57. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $554,151.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 270,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,149 shares of company stock worth $1,369,666 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.79.

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.