Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target Increased to $54.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its target price increased by Barclays from $43.00 to $54.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

BLBD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Blue Bird Price Performance

BLBD traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.05. 620,889 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 570,876. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Blue Bird has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year high of $59.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.37.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total value of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,926 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,636.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at about $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 36.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 305,868 shares during the last quarter. Brightline Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth about $7,279,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 229,004 shares during the last quarter. 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.