Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 78.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 1,879.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company's stock worth $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 186,799 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.19, for a total transaction of $451,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,630,193.57. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,149 shares of company stock worth $1,369,666 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.4%

Blue Bird stock traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.26. The stock had a trading volume of 178,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,700. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.41. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $55.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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