Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.94 Million Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,957 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Blue Bird worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after acquiring an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,587,000 after purchasing an additional 305,868 shares during the period. Brightline Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,279,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,788,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.17.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $49.34 on Friday. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $49.01 and a 200-day moving average of $45.25.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,732 shares of company stock valued at $2,835,622 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% 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.