Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stock Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,230 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.13% of Blue Bird worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at about $354,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock worth $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.5% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock worth $2,634,000 after buying an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after buying an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,790,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on BLBD shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $554,151.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:BLBD traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $41.27. 367,418 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 634,349. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.21 and a 200-day moving average of $37.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $58.41.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share 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.