AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 561.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,173 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 440.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $102,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 5,165.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $490,187.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,445,960. The trade was a 11.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,832 shares of company stock valued at $8,326,685. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLBD. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.36.

Blue Bird Trading Down 2.6%

Blue Bird stock opened at $56.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.62. Blue Bird Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $60.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.