Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $952,000 Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 78.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,418 shares of the company's stock after selling 106,446 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.09% of Blue Bird worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLBD. FMR LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,933,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,683,000 after purchasing an additional 241,117 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock worth $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

NASDAQ BLBD traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $42.86. 463,896 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 613,348. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $55.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.53 and a 200-day moving average of $37.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.41.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 64.83% and a net margin of 7.97%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. DA Davidson dropped 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Three investment 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 a consensus target price of $56.79.

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.