Sankala Group LLC Takes Position in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 10,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,925,000 after purchasing an additional 16,501 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 161.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 277,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,056,000 after buying an additional 171,642 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,283,000 after buying an additional 601,690 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 279.7% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 15,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,932,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $73.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Blue Bird Corporation has a one year low of $41.76 and a one year high of $81.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.42.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.The business had revenue of $352.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Blue Bird’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BLBD shares. DA Davidson set a $86.00 price objective on Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.80.

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.