Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 82,310 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC decreased its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 73.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,374 shares of the company's stock after selling 82,310 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.09% of Blue Bird worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. CWM LLC lifted its position in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,461 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 3.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.34. 227,631 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,857. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $55.60. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.99. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.41.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 64.83% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business 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 earned $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 270,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $451,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,630,193.57. This represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,369,666 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.