Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $13.36 Million Stake in Blue Bird Corporation $BLBD

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its position in Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,788 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $13,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,925,000 after purchasing an additional 16,501 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,867 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 161.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 277,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,056,000 after buying an additional 171,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,931,000 after buying an additional 135,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 177,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,362,000 after buying an additional 15,107 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. Zacks Research upgraded Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital lowered 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 price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.17.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $74.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $74.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.12. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.95 and a twelve month high of $83.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.35.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 53.68%. The business had revenue of $352.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Blue Bird Company Profile

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.