Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BLBD. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $41.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a one year low of $17.65 and a one year high of $59.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,990,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,990,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,541.80. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $492,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,504,000 after purchasing an additional 25,563 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 11,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $987,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 58,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 21,919 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.