Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,613 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,406 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Blue Bird worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BLBD. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 43,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Blue Bird by 169.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 141,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 89,068 shares in the last quarter. Castellan Group purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at $7,748,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 19,247 shares of the company's stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,385 shares of the company's stock worth $4,728,000 after purchasing an additional 53,185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Blue Bird Stock Performance

Blue Bird stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.92. 459,220 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 751,880. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.67 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The firm's fifty day moving average is $37.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.