Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 60.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,458 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth $56,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 88,664 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $33.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Blue Bird Co. has a 1-year low of $30.67 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

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.