Two Sigma Advisers LP Increases Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 139,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $5,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $38.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. Blue Bird Co. has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current 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.