Nuveen Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 603,981 shares of the company's stock after selling 279,360 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.88% of Blue Bird worth $23,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLBD. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock worth $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 355.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock worth $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,175 shares of the company's stock worth $29,906,000 after purchasing an additional 544,248 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 540.2% in the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 540,435 shares of the company's stock worth $20,877,000 after purchasing an additional 456,015 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company's stock worth $30,227,000 after acquiring an additional 312,493 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLBD. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $39.28. 89,618 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 638,401. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Blue Bird's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share 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.