Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Invests $66,000 in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 783.6% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,376,000 after acquiring an additional 389,459 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 245.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 509,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 361,763 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth $5,685,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 496.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,723,000 after buying an additional 184,121 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,304,000 after buying an additional 160,233 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLBD. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.42.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,207,597 shares of company stock valued at $138,285,973 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD stock opened at $34.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.46. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $39.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. The firm had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 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.