StockNews.com Downgrades Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) to Hold

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.17.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock opened at $52.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.61. Blue Bird has a one year low of $17.59 and a one year 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.51.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,636.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,015,532.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,636.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,240 shares of company stock worth $2,960,546 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 43.9% during 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 during the second quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter worth about $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.