Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New Investment in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 11,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 43,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 169.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 141,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 89,068 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group purchased a new position in Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth $7,748,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 19,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,728,000 after buying an additional 53,185 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $35.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $38.90 and its 200 day moving average is $42.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $29.93 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.56.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $822,244.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,832,092.83. The trade was a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.21.

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.