Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 2,331 Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 643,596 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,331 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. owned 2.00% of Blue Bird worth $20,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Blue Bird by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 5,165.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 270,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $45.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Blue Bird Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $55.60.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 64.83%. The business had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current 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.