Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 38,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,070,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after acquiring an additional 101,482 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter valued at $2,951,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the first quarter worth about $2,134,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 25,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 115.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 179,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 96,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLBD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.42.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:BLBD traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $48.24. 613,188 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 560,791. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.63. Blue Bird Co. has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $345.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal 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.