Castellan Group Takes Position in Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Castellan Group bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 200,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,748,000. Blue Bird makes up 3.4% of Castellan Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 268.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,330,000 after buying an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after buying an additional 156,298 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 976.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,171,000 after buying an additional 116,707 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,100,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,784,000 after buying an additional 79,129 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. This trade represents a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLBD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $35.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.56. Blue Bird Co. has a 12 month low of $29.78 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.