Deutsche Bank AG Reduces Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG has reduced its stake in Blue Bird Corporation by 30.1%, now holding 71,397 shares valued at $2.31 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Blue Bird, including Westwood Holdings Group and First Trust Advisors, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Blue Bird's rating, with multiple firms rating it as a "strong-buy" and predicting an average target price of $57.36.

Deutsche Bank AG trimmed its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 30.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,397 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,796 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.22% of Blue Bird worth $2,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1,879.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company's stock worth $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 186,799 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth approximately $424,000. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,303 shares of the company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 6,517 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 26,357 shares of the company's stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 21,769 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $42,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 47,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,851,130.06. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 21,129 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.16, for a total value of $1,228,862.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,002,950.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,832 shares of company stock valued at $7,559,425 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.36.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $0.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.83. 801,734 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 825,445. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.50. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.36 and its 200-day moving average is $40.11.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The firm had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS 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.