42,954 Shares in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Purchased by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 42,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,439,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.14% of Blue Bird as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,931,000 after purchasing an additional 135,562 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 41.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,102,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,669,000 after purchasing an additional 324,710 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,048,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,257,000 after purchasing an additional 8,430 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 865,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,661,000 after purchasing an additional 109,668 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 769,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLBD. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson set a $86.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.17.

Blue Bird Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $77.83 on Wednesday. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1 year low of $42.95 and a 1 year high of $83.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.36.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 53.68%. The company had revenue of $352.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.