PFG Advisors Purchases 2,940 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

PFG Advisors increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 43.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,738 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Blue Bird were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLBD. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,259 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,748,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,743,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 26.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 156,298 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 976.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after buying an additional 116,707 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Up 2.2 %

BLBD opened at $34.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. Blue Bird Co. has a twelve month low of $30.67 and a twelve month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

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.