Blair William & Co. IL Sells 17,388 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 341,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,388 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 1.06% of Blue Bird worth $13,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth $38,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.0 %

BLBD stock opened at $32.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. Blue Bird Co. has a 1-year low of $30.67 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.74 and its 200-day moving average is $40.48.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released 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 return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.