Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.17.

BLBD has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Blue Bird Stock Up 4.3 %

Blue Bird stock opened at $53.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.86. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total transaction of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares in the company, valued at $4,015,532.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at $15,715,507.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546 in the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 18,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 47,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 207,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,597,000 after purchasing an additional 32,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 369.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 61,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 48,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

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.