Hodges Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 37.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,085 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.31% of Blue Bird worth $3,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,304,000 after purchasing an additional 160,233 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,206,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,754,000 after purchasing an additional 144,697 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,482 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 245.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 509,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 361,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 339,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,244,000 after purchasing an additional 94,770 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $53.85 on Friday. Blue Bird Co. has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $59.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.38.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. The firm had revenue of $345.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.00 million. Analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLBD. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.25.

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.