Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 7,634 Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the 1st 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 grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,587,000 after acquiring an additional 305,868 shares in the last quarter. Brightline Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,279,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 81.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,432,000 after acquiring an additional 229,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BLBD. StockNews.com lowered Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.17.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Blue Bird stock opened at $52.70 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61. Blue Bird Co. has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 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 the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,669,801.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,669,801.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.