Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 27.9% during the second quarter, owning 823,096 shares valued at approximately $35.5 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Blue Bird, with US Bancorp DE significantly raising its stake by 440.1%, highlighting strong institutional interest in the company.
• Blue Bird reported a 19.4% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $1.19, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.90.

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 27.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 823,096 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 179,500 shares during the period. Blue Bird makes up 1.9% of Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 2.61% of Blue Bird worth $35,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter valued at $102,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 561.0% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 2,090.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total transaction of $532,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,881.63. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,342,183. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $56.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.58. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $61.95.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target 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, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.58.

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.

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