14,090 Shares in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Purchased by Vident Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC has acquired a new stake in Blue Bird Corporation, purchasing 14,090 shares valued at approximately $456,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Blue Bird received several upgrades from analysts, with Wall Street Zen and Zacks Research increasing their ratings to “strong-buy” and a price target of $57.36.
• The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.90, with revenues of $398.01 million for the recent quarter.

Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,308 shares of the company's stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,597 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,489 shares of the company's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $532,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,881.63. This trade represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,392 shares of company stock worth $7,794,083 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.96. The company had a trading volume of 467,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 572,717. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Blue Bird Corporation has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $60.45.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. The company 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%.Blue Bird's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BLBD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.36.

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.