Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,406 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,406 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Blue Bird worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $33.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $30.67 and a 12-month high of $59.40. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.13.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. On average, research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $822,244.19. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird 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.