Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Downgraded to "Neutral" at Roth Mkm

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Roth Mkm from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $48.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.33% from the stock's current price.

BLBD has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their target price 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. DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLBD traded down $3.26 on Thursday, hitting $42.73. 1,419,533 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 570,862. 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 1-year low of $17.59 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. The business had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $330.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,990,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $120,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 83,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,990,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,186,636.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 61,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,960,546. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the first quarter worth $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 229,004 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,587,000 after purchasing an additional 305,868 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 91.5% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 329,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,636,000 after purchasing an additional 157,468 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.