Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,933,278 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 241,117 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 6.02% of Blue Bird worth $74,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Blue Bird by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.0%

BLBD stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $39.21. 479,207 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 643,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.63.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. The business's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on BLBD shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird 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.