Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a buy rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Blue Bird Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BLBD opened at $44.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.48.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. 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 hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. bought a new position in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth about $2,134,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 104.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 25,102 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Blue Bird by 33.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after purchasing an additional 505,727 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 2,177.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 52,912 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.