Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Trading Down 6.8%

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was down 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $33.28 and last traded at $33.57. Approximately 354,147 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 496,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.58.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.23 and a 200-day moving average of $26.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.36.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $1,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,044,548. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $1,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,044,548. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,002.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after buying an additional 101,482 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 107,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after buying an additional 51,205 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth $630,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Blue Bird by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,304,000 after buying an additional 160,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 339,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,244,000 after buying an additional 94,770 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.