Creative Planning Buys New Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BLBD. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the second quarter worth $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter worth $120,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLBD. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of 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. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total value of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock opened at $45.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.86 and its 200-day moving average is $47.60.

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

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.