Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a drop of 10.5% from the September 30th total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 620,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Capital cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 1,227.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $42.11. The stock had a trading volume of 596,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 582,011. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.08 and a 200-day moving average of $48.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share 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.