Insider Selling: Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Sells 15,381 Shares of Stock

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Phil Horlock sold 15,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $775,510.02. Following the sale, the director directly owned 225,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,363,911.70. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ BLBD traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $51.62. 142,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 527,351. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $61.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $43,981,000 after acquiring an additional 23,569 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 936,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,314,000 after acquiring an additional 112,197 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth $438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.