Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 106,559 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation by 4.4%, bringing its ownership to approximately 7.23%, valued at around $75.1 million.
• Blue Bird received multiple analyst upgrades, including a shift to a "strong-buy" rating from Wall Street Zen and a target price increase to $53 from Needham & Company.
• Blue Bird's latest earnings report showed a profit of $1.19 per share, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 19.4% revenue growth year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,320,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 106,559 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.23% of Blue Bird worth $75,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Blue Bird by 55.0% during 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. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Blue Bird by 440.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.39. The company had a trading volume of 566,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 872,110. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $60.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average is $48.36 and its 200-day moving average is $40.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.50.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The business's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays lowered 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.36.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at $14,445,960. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total value of $532,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,881.63. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,832 shares of company stock worth $7,559,425 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.