Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Rating Increased 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 Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on 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 increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $42.73 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the transaction, the president now owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total value of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at $14,669,801.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 303.3% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 38,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 29,170 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $1,702,000. Brightline Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $7,279,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $370,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 35.8% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 44,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,793 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.