Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 101,482 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 828,339 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 101,482 shares during the period. Blue Bird comprises about 1.5% of Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. owned 2.57% of Blue Bird worth $22,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in Blue Bird by 113.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its stake in Blue Bird by 198.6% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 4,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 325.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Blue Bird by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 330,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,038. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.36. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $17.37 and a one year high of $39.01. The business's 50-day moving average is $33.82 and its 200-day moving average is $26.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. Equities research analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blue Bird news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now owns 87,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,922,002.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.58.

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.