Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

BLBD has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $61.17.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BLBD traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.19. 271,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 559,252. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.66. Blue Bird has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLBD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter valued at approximately $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 81.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,432,000 after acquiring an additional 229,004 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,587,000 after acquiring an additional 305,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 91.5% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 329,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 157,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.59% 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.