Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Downgraded by Roth Capital

Roth Capital cut shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $62.00.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of Blue Bird stock opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.27. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at $15,715,507.14. This 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. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,990,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Macroview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Blue Bird by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the second quarter worth about $113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.