Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 39,236 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 75.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,236 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,482 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,951,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 115.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 179,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 96,339 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 210.2% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 66,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 45,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 369.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 48,178 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Up 1.7 %

BLBD opened at $54.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.94. Blue Bird Co. has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $56.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLBD. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.