Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Trading Down 6.8%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 220.1% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 113.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 89.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 93.59% 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.