Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases 39,978 Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) by 104.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,978 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blue Bird were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $2,134,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 33.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the first quarter worth $4,000,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in Blue Bird by 360.0% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 105,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after acquiring an additional 82,681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $42.07 on Monday. Blue Bird Co. has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $59.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total value of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BLBD. StockNews.com upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Roth Mkm cut shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.00.

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.