Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a decline of 10.5% from the September 30th total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 620,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLBD. Barclays boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,134,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 104.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 25,102 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Blue Bird by 33.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,292,000 after acquiring an additional 505,727 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 2,177.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 52,912 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD traded up $0.73 on Tuesday, reaching $43.19. 728,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 582,340. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $47.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.99.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS 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.