Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.21.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLBD. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD opened at $34.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $30.67 and a 1-year high of $59.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.45.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.