Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 8.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 355,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,866 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $19,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.17.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of Blue Bird stock opened at $50.22 on Monday. Blue Bird Co. has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.61.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The company 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the transaction, the president now owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total transaction of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the sale, 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 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.