ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,994 Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,684,000. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 9.1% in the second quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 14,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $506,000. Somerset Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Finally, Invst LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $53.93 on Friday. Blue Bird Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $61.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,983.54. This trade represents a 14.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total value of $767,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,794,083 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.58.

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.