Invesco Ltd. Has $2.13 Million Position in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has decreased its shareholding in Blue Bird Corporation by 9.2%, now owning 65,643 shares valued at approximately $2.13 million.
• Insider selling at Blue Bird includes CFO Razvan Radulescu, who sold 700 shares, and SVP Ted Scartz, who sold 8,877 shares, reflecting significant decreases in their respective positions.
• Blue Bird Corporation reported a strong quarterly performance with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.19, exceeding estimates, and revenue growth of 19.4% year-over-year, reaching $398.01 million.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,643 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,621 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.20% of Blue Bird worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BLBD. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Blue Bird by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 527,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,370,000 after acquiring an additional 28,460 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,679 shares of the company's stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 305.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 4,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 89,731 shares of the company's stock worth $3,468,000 after purchasing an additional 19,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.36.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.39. 566,068 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,214. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $48.67 and a 200 day moving average of $40.74. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $60.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,445,960. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This trade represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,832 shares of company stock worth $7,559,425 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.