Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its ownership of Blue Bird Corporation by 24.3%, acquiring an additional 468,936 shares, bringing its total holdings to 2,402,214 shares worth approximately $77.76 million.
• Blue Bird reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.96, slightly exceeding analyst estimates of $0.95, with revenue of $358.85 million, a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year.
• Insider trading saw significant activity, with CFO Razvan Radulescu and Director Phil Horlock selling a combined total of 23,289 shares of Blue Bird, reflecting a decrease in their ownership stakes.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,402,214 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 468,936 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 7.48% of Blue Bird worth $77,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BLBD. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at $255,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 23,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,752,000 after acquiring an additional 25,745 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 306,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at $3,349,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays cut their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.36.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock traded up $3.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.34. 3,070,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 533,467. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.50. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $60.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 270,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,290,942.20. This trade represents a 4.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total value of $532,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,881.63. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,149 shares of company stock worth $1,901,766. Corporate 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.