Signaturefd LLC Raises Stock Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 1,227.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,580 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 43.9% during 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. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLBD. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird 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 sale, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,000. This trade 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $43.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.04. Blue Bird Co. has a twelve month low of $17.59 and a twelve month high of $59.40.

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