Perpetual Ltd Has $431,000 Stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 96.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,303 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,517 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Blue Bird were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,461 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Blue Bird by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,274 shares of the company's stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $1.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.45. 409,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 619,836. Blue Bird Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $55.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 64.83%. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 270,766 shares in the company, valued at $11,290,942.20. This trade represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLBD. Barclays decreased their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

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.