Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.00.

BLBD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 83,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,990,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,292,000 after buying an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 81.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,432,000 after buying an additional 229,004 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,587,000 after buying an additional 305,868 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 329,574 shares of the company's stock worth $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 157,468 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD traded up $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $43.12. The stock had a trading volume of 684,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,315. The business's 50-day moving average price is $48.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $59.40. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.60.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released 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. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. The company had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.