Royce & Associates LP Has $9.37 Million Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 19.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,817 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,454 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $9,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 159.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 30.9% in the first 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 last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Blue Bird by 184.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.20.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 7,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total transaction of $402,313.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 49,087 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,493.93. The trade was a 13.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 15,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 225,385 shares in the company, valued at $11,363,911.70. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,290 shares of company stock worth $1,417,170. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.2%

BLBD opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.86. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $62.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Blue Bird Profile

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.