Blue Bird’s (BLBD) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $66.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Blue Bird in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.64.

Blue Bird Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $43.71 on Friday. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $23.76 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,330,000 after buying an additional 1,341,259 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blue Bird by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after purchasing an additional 156,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 725,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,798,000 after purchasing an additional 56,449 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 635,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 81.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,432,000 after purchasing an additional 229,004 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.