Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Shares Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,924 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,107 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $8,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,283,000 after acquiring an additional 601,690 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth approximately $10,932,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in Blue Bird by 161.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 277,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,056,000 after buying an additional 171,642 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 409,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,166,000 after buying an additional 46,801 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blue Bird by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,931,000 after buying an additional 135,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $70.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.68 and a twelve month high of $81.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.25.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $352.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In related news, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total value of $303,939.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 39,011 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,703.94. The trade was a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BLBD. Barclays lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Freedom Capital lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.80.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.