Driehaus Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 503,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 333,448 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.56% of Blue Bird worth $27,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 51.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.17.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,636.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,636.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,240 shares of company stock worth $2,960,546 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blue Bird Trading Down 5.1 %

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $48.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year high of $59.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.65.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.