Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 10,381 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,381 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.43% of Blue Bird worth $5,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,358,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,981,000 after buying an additional 23,569 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 936,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,314,000 after buying an additional 112,197 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at $438,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLBD. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.60.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.4%

Blue Bird stock opened at $50.53 on Tuesday. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $61.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.35. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 62.87%. The firm had revenue of $409.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $380.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.