Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,960,000 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the September 15th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 607,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 3.4% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the second quarter worth about $29,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 22.5% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $44.15 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.42. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLBD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BTIG Research began coverage on Blue Bird in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Roth Mkm lowered Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

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.