Perpetual Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 96.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,303 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,517 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Blue Bird were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Blue Bird by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 43,413 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 106,649 shares of the company's stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 23,205 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 23,892 shares of the company's stock worth $923,000 after purchasing an additional 12,661 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 318,188 shares of the company's stock worth $12,292,000 after purchasing an additional 9,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,743,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.6%

BLBD opened at $43.12 on Friday. Blue Bird Corporation has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $55.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 64.83% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $348.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 270,766 shares in the company, valued at $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.79.

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.

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