Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Shares Purchased by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its ownership in Blue Bird Corporation by 157.0%, acquiring an additional 26,535 shares, which brings its total holdings to 43,441 shares worth approximately $1.4 million.
• Analyst reports indicate a positive outlook for Blue Bird, with Needham & Company raising their price target to $53.00 and Zacks upgrading the stock from "hold" to "strong buy."
• Blue Bird's latest earnings report showed a significant increase in revenue, reporting $398.01 million for the quarter, which exceeded expectations and marked a 19.4% year-over-year growth.

Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 157.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,441 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,535 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned 0.14% of Blue Bird worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 440.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the first quarter worth approximately $102,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,832 shares of company stock valued at $7,559,425. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.36.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD traded down $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.39. 566,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 872,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.50. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $60.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blue Bird Company 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.