Hodges Capital Management Inc. Sells 58,770 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Blue Bird Corporation by 48.0%, selling 58,770 shares and now owns approximately 0.20% of the company valued at $2,059,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Blue Bird, with American Century Companies Inc. growing its position by 1,394.9% during the same quarter.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Blue Bird Corporation, raising the price objective from $49.00 to $53.00 and several brokerages have upgraded the stock to a "strong-buy" rating.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 48.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,770 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of Blue Bird worth $2,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 30.9% in 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of Blue Bird 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,794,083. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of BLBD stock traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $56.24. The stock had a trading volume of 509,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 557,830. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $51.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.31. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $60.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.61. 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. 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 earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target 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, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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 given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.36.

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.