Insider Buying: Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Purchases 400 Shares of Stock

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Daniel Mark Thau bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $51.05 per share, for a total transaction of $20,420.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,099 shares in the company, valued at $311,353.95. This trade represents a 7.02% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.52. The company had a trading volume of 123,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,475. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.18 and its 200 day moving average is $49.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.42. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $61.95.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $409.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $380.37 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 62.87% and a net margin of 8.63%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $52,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 185.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,283,000 after purchasing an additional 601,690 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Blue Bird by 383.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 425,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,471,000 after purchasing an additional 337,196 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,134,000. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 7,161.9% during the 1st 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 during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.