HighTower Advisors LLC Has $3.93 Million Stock Holdings in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 83,508 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,501 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $3,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,419,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 4,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total transaction of $303,939.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 39,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,283,703.94. The trade was a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of BLBD opened at $67.77 on Friday. Blue Bird Corporation has a 12 month low of $37.68 and a 12 month high of $81.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.31 and its 200-day moving average is $56.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $352.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.23 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 53.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.