New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 88.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,264 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,461 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Blue Bird were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company's stock worth $88,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 156,298 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Blue Bird by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 725,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,798,000 after buying an additional 56,449 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Blue Bird by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 641,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,772,000 after buying an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 327,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,724,000 after buying an additional 7,770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $822,244.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,832,092.83. The trade was a 17.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.92. The stock had a trading volume of 459,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 751,880. Blue Bird Co. has a 52 week low of $30.67 and a 52 week high of $59.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current 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.