Insider Selling: Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Sells 13,000 Shares of Stock

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Phil Horlock also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 18th, Phil Horlock sold 21,129 shares of Blue Bird stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.16, for a total transaction of $1,228,862.64.
• On Friday, August 15th, Phil Horlock sold 21,129 shares of Blue Bird stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.18, for a total value of $1,208,156.22.
• On Wednesday, August 13th, Phil Horlock sold 15,848 shares of Blue Bird stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.06, for a total transaction of $888,438.88.
• On Friday, August 8th, Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of Blue Bird stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00.
• On Tuesday, June 10th, Phil Horlock sold 8,860 shares of Blue Bird stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.04, for a total value of $363,614.40.
• On Wednesday, June 11th, Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of Blue Bird stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total value of $554,151.30.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.63. 108,442 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,603. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $60.45.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The business had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 24.3% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,760,000 after buying an additional 468,936 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,267,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,849,000 after acquiring an additional 647,637 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,358,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,981,000 after acquiring an additional 23,569 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 936,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,314,000 after acquiring an additional 112,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 27.9% during the second quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 823,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,525,000 after purchasing an additional 179,500 shares in the last quarter. 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.