Hodges Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in 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. lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 48.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,770 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Blue Bird worth $2,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 30.9% during the first 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 stake in Blue Bird during the first quarter valued at about $102,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 561.0% during the first 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 raised its position in Blue Bird by 2,090.5% during the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,445,960. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,392 shares of company stock worth $7,794,083 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of BLBD traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.59. The company had a trading volume of 133,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 564,393. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.62. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $60.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $51.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.53.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The company had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Blue Bird's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.79.

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.