Raymond James & Associates Purchases 18,283 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,957 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,283 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.34% of Blue Bird worth $5,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 14.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the company's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,669 shares of the company's stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 3,681 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 13.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at $3,990,000. 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 is available through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 51,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,520,541.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 0.1 %

BLBD traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.07. 411,016 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,318. The company's fifty day moving average price is $46.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.01. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price target 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.00.

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.