Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases 66,695 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,548 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,695 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned 0.67% of Blue Bird worth $8,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company's stock worth $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 765,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,578,000 after acquiring an additional 13,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 725,573 shares of the company's stock worth $34,798,000 after buying an additional 56,449 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.69. 179,179 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,404. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.76. Blue Bird Co. has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Research analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Company 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.