Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,430 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 169.7% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 141,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 89,068 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at $7,748,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 19,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,728,000 after purchasing an additional 53,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLBD shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Stock Down 4.8 %

BLBD opened at $34.61 on Wednesday. Blue Bird Co. has a twelve month low of $29.78 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.21. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.56.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $822,244.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.