Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Shares Purchased by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 88.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 369,992 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173,253 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $16,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,158 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Blue Bird by 24.3% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,760,000 after acquiring an additional 468,936 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,298,000. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 7,161.9% in the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 231,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,152,000 after acquiring an additional 228,322 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,888,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $54.22 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $61.95.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.58.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total transaction of $490,187.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,693,024.18. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total value of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at $14,210,009.32. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,342,183 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blue Bird Profile

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.