Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Position Cut by Tectonic Advisors LLC

Tectonic Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,111 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Blue Bird worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,423,000 after buying an additional 1,511,158 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 24.3% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,760,000 after purchasing an additional 468,936 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter valued at about $8,298,000. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 7,161.9% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 231,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,152,000 after purchasing an additional 228,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1,879.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 186,799 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BLBD opened at $55.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.64. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $61.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 61.66% and a net margin of 8.16%.Blue Bird’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,445,960. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,342,183. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLBD. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.58.

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.