Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 157,158 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sold 157,158 shares of Blue Bird Corporation, reducing its stake by 57.0%, leaving it with 118,346 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million.
• Needham & Company raised its price target for Blue Bird shares from $49.00 to $53.00, classifying the stock as a "buy," while several analysts have upgraded their ratings, with a consensus target price of $58.79.
• Insider selling occurred, with CFO Razvan Radulescu and SVP Ted Scartz selling a combined 15,586 shares, representing significant declines in their ownership percentages.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,346 shares of the company's stock after selling 157,158 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.37% of Blue Bird worth $3,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.71. 595,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 510,215. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $60.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $398.01 million during 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%.Blue Bird's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total transaction of $385,163.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,341,983.54. This trade represents a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 137,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,794,083. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.79.

Blue Bird 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.