Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 474 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $3,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Blue Bird by 440.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth approximately $102,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 561.0% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Blue Bird by 2,090.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $55.77 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.37. 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 capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.The firm had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,794 shares in the company, valued at $2,341,983.54. This trade represents a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,392 shares of company stock worth $7,342,183 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Company 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.