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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BLBD. BTIG Research started coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Roth Mkm cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Blue Bird Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.54. The company had a trading volume of 701,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 784,772. Blue Bird has a 52-week low of $17.65 and a 52-week high of $59.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.62. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.28.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at $15,715,507.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares in the company, 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 have sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at $688,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 52.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 4,310 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Blue Bird by 33.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blue Bird by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 24,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth $2,134,000. Hedge funds and other 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.