State of Wyoming Makes New $612,000 Investment in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,925,000 after purchasing an additional 16,501 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blue Bird by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,867 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Blue Bird by 161.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 277,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,056,000 after purchasing an additional 171,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,931,000 after purchasing an additional 135,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 177,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,362,000 after purchasing an additional 15,107 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BLBD. Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Roth Capital set a $93.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.33.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $64.81 on Monday. Blue Bird Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.14 and a fifty-two week high of $83.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.61.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $517.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.73 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 39.97%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blue Bird Company Profile

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.