Boston Partners Cuts Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Boston Partners cut its holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 96.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 369,538 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Blue Bird were worth $451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLBD. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth about $38,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Blue Bird by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BLBD. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Insider Activity

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $33.55 on Monday. Blue Bird Co. has a twelve month low of $30.67 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.