Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Acquired by Algert Global LLC

Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 360.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,651 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,681 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $5,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total transaction of $1,573,539.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. 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 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $48.45 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.75. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 EPS 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.