Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 35,003 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lowered its stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,684 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,003 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Blue Bird worth $4,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 43,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 169.7% in 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 stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,748,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,728,000 after acquiring an additional 53,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of BLBD stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 757,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,222. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $29.93 and a one year high of $59.40. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $39.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Equities research analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total transaction of $108,565.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. The trade was a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.21.

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.