Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD Position Lowered by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 85.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 738,204 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $7,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 210.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 775 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 222.7% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 10,028.6% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BLBD. DA Davidson set a $86.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research raised Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital downgraded Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.17.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $74.39 on Friday. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $42.95 and a 12 month high of $83.39. The stock has a market cap 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.12. 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $352.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.