Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,210,000 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the July 15th total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 678,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BLBD. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd bought a new position in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 220.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Price Performance

NASDAQ BLBD traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.95. 588,276 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 570,225. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 154.10% and a net margin of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

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.