Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,420,000 shares, an increase of 29.1% from the October 15th total of 2,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 668,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This trade represents a 2.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,715,507.14. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,255 shares of company stock worth $2,580,075 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $688,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,310 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Blue Bird by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $2,134,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 149.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,694,000 after buying an additional 88,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

BLBD traded down $1.98 on Friday, reaching $36.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,210,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,742. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $17.79 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.16 and a 200-day moving average of $48.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.14.

Blue Bird Company 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.