Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Shares Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 355.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 49,533 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,664 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $2,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 buying an additional 23,569 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $424,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 936,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,314,000 after purchasing an additional 112,197 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $52,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castellan Group boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. Castellan Group now owns 328,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,643,000 after purchasing an additional 128,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BLBD shares. Zacks Research cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $53.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 40,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,341,983.54. This trade represents a 14.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total value of $767,260.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,210,009.32. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 40,838 shares of company stock worth $2,381,286 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $51.90 on Friday. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $61.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.62.

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.