Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) CFO Sells $402,313.76 in Stock

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 7,984 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total transaction of $402,313.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 49,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,493.93. The trade was a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Blue Bird stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.91. 405,671 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 530,328. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $61.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.67 and a 200-day moving average of $50.33.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $409.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.37 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 62.87% and a net margin of 8.63%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLBD. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1,394.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,158 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,283,000 after purchasing an additional 601,690 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 337,196 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth $14,134,000. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its position in Blue Bird by 7,161.9% in 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 buying an additional 228,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% 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.