Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires 12,661 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 112.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,661 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLBD. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,259 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at $7,748,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after acquiring an additional 156,298 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 976.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after acquiring an additional 116,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 169.7% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 141,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 89,068 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. This trade represents a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD stock opened at $35.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.44. Blue Bird Co. has a 1-year low of $31.42 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Profile

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.