GSA Capital Partners LLP Sells 1,310 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

GSA Capital Partners LLP reduced its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at about $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Blue Bird by 279.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,587,000 after buying an additional 305,868 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 81.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,432,000 after acquiring an additional 229,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,788,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Trading Down 5.2 %

Blue Bird stock opened at $36.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. Blue Bird Co. has a 52 week low of $17.79 and a 52 week high of $59.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $72.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.14.

Insider Activity

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,747 shares of company stock valued at $2,459,691 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

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.