Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Lowers Stock Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,290 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,400 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.90% of Blue Bird worth $11,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,186,636.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.42.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of Blue Bird stock traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.87. 356,342 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,809. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $345.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 154.10% and a net margin of 6.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.46 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.