Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $74.68 Million Stock Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,933,278 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 241,117 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 6.02% of Blue Bird worth $74,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock worth $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blue Bird by 1.1% during 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after acquiring an additional 160,248 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Blue Bird by 355.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,126,000 after acquiring an additional 689,394 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Blue Bird by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,227,000 after acquiring an additional 312,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays lowered 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. DA Davidson lowered 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.63. The company had a trading volume of 252,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 642,291. Blue Bird Co. has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.65 and its 200-day moving average is $37.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $348.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Blue Bird's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

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.