Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 107.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,700 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $6,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 2,090.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 40.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the second quarter worth $366,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Blue Bird from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Blue Bird from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.20.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 3,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.98, for a total value of $239,346.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 42,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,576,709.90. The trade was a 8.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 15,381 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $775,510.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 225,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,363,911.70. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,290 shares of company stock valued at $1,417,170 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $61.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.45. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.60.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $333.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.74 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 57.60% and a net margin of 8.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.