Encompass More Asset Management Makes New Investment in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Encompass More Asset Management bought a new stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,376,000. Encompass More Asset Management owned 0.11% of Blue Bird at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 268.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after buying an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after purchasing an additional 156,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 725,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,798,000 after purchasing an additional 56,449 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 0.4% in the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 635,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 2.4% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 327,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,724,000 after buying an additional 7,770 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Roth Capital cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $822,244.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,832,092.83. The trade was a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Up 0.7 %

BLBD opened at $39.23 on Friday. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $27.36 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.95. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 91.12% and a net margin of 7.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current 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.