Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $42.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.00.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This 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 accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of Blue Bird 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’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 directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 43.9% during the second 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. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.