Roth Mkm Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD)

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Roth Mkm in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00. Roth Mkm’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.32% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.42.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $34.99 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.54 and its 200 day moving average is $27.10. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $17.43 and a 12 month high of $39.01.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. The business had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 220.1% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 568.8% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the third quarter worth $205,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.