Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Bought by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,394 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLBD. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 43.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $822,244.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,347 shares in the company, valued at $3,832,092.83. The trade was a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLBD. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.64.

Blue Bird Stock Down 3.7 %

Blue Bird stock opened at $37.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.37. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.36 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.73. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 91.12% and a net margin of 7.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.