Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 30.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,179 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 76,036 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.00% of Blue Bird worth $17,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Blue Bird during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at about $81,000. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $120,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $145,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blue Bird Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of BLBD traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.94. 788,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 572,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $48.92 and its 200-day moving average is $47.09. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blue Bird 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.