Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys Shares of 10,161 Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC has initiated a new investment in Blue Bird Corporation, acquiring 10,161 shares valued at approximately $329,000.
• During the first quarter, several hedge funds increased their stakes in Blue Bird, with US Bancorp DE boosting its holdings by 440.1%.
• Blue Bird reported a 19.4% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, achieving earnings of $1.19 EPS, exceeding analyst estimates.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,161 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,274 shares of the company's stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 1.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,308 shares of the company's stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 7.2% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,597 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 26.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,489 shares of the company's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total value of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at $14,210,009.32. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,794 shares in the company, valued at $2,341,983.54. This represents a 14.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,392 shares of company stock worth $7,794,083 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

BLBD traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.96. 467,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,717. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $60.45. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.62. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.16.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.