Janus Henderson Group PLC Purchases 227,928 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 395.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 285,583 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 227,928 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.89% of Blue Bird worth $11,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 976.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company's stock worth $6,171,000 after buying an additional 116,707 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 60,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,940 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Blue Bird by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 263,400 shares of the company's stock worth $10,175,000 after purchasing an additional 16,900 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 34,050 shares of the company's stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 7,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at $262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson lowered 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.79.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.59 during trading on Thursday, reaching $38.61. 130,000 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,408. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-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 firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $35.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.63.

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