Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Receives $58.21 Consensus PT from Analysts

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.21.

BLBD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of BLBD opened at $32.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.86. Blue Bird has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. This trade represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 162.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,977,000 after buying an additional 2,998,453 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,752,000 after purchasing an additional 25,745 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,933,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,683,000 after purchasing an additional 241,117 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 355.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares in the last quarter. 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.