Sei Investments Co. Buys 30,704 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 17.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 206,016 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,704 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $11,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 15,867 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 161.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,931,000 after buying an additional 135,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 177,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,362,000 after acquiring an additional 15,107 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLBD. Roth Capital began coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.17.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $74.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.95 and a twelve month high of $83.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.12.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $352.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.5 EPS 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.