The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys New Position in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BLBD. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter worth $261,000. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the second quarter valued at about $51,129,758. PEAK6 LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the second quarter worth about $3,894,000. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the second quarter worth about $15,624,000. Finally, Kendall Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at about $250,000. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLBD. Roth Capital set a $93.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $63.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.74, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.36. Blue Bird Corporation has a 1 year low of $46.14 and a 1 year high of $83.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 39.97% and a net margin of 17.48%.The firm had revenue of $517.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.73 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.68 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.