Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $1.06 Million Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 33.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,812 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $1,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 115.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 179,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after acquiring an additional 96,339 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 220.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 240.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 81,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 57,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BLBD. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Blue Bird Stock Down 2.1 %

BLBD stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.92. 82,279 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,869. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.29 and its 200-day moving average is $42.83. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 154.10% and a net margin of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Company 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.