Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) have received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.17.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Blue Bird Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $50.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.46. Blue Bird has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year high of $59.40.

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. The business had revenue of $333.37 million for 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of Blue Bird 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,636.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after purchasing an additional 505,727 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 81.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,432,000 after acquiring an additional 229,004 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in Blue Bird by 279.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,587,000 after acquiring an additional 305,868 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 91.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 329,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 157,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

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.