Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Sells 563 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,777 shares of the company’s stock after selling 563 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,482 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 107,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after acquiring an additional 51,205 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $630,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,304,000 after acquiring an additional 160,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 339,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,244,000 after acquiring an additional 94,770 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $36.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Blue Bird Co. has a one year low of $17.37 and a one year high of $39.01.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLBD shares. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.58.

Blue Bird 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.