Short Interest in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Grows By 21.8%

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,960,000 shares, an increase of 21.8% from the September 15th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 607,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BLBD shares. Roth Capital cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered 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 note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Quarry LP raised its position in Blue Bird by 43.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 22.5% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in Blue Bird by 13.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 569,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,640. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60.

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

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.