Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target Cut to $49.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $66.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 37.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BLBD. StockNews.com upgraded Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.21.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $35.73 on Thursday. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $29.00 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 91.12%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $822,244.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the third quarter valued at $38,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Company 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.