North Star Investment Management Corp. Sells 6,000 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

North Star Investment Management Corp. cut its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned approximately 0.51% of Blue Bird worth $7,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the first quarter worth about $2,134,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Blue Bird by 33.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth $4,000,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 360.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 105,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after acquiring an additional 82,681 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.77. 206,542 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 582,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.26.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Roth Mkm downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,990,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.