HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires Shares of 5,439 Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,784,000 after purchasing an additional 79,129 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Blue Bird by 37.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 4,515 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after buying an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.21.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,379,871.68. This trade represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $32.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.93. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $59.40. 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.