Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Purchased by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 105.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,778 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,834 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned approximately 0.21% of Blue Bird worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 268.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Castellan Group purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,748,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,743,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after buying an additional 156,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 976.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,171,000 after buying an additional 116,707 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $34.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.66. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $30.67 and a 12-month high of $59.40.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLBD. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.