Blue Bird’s (BLBD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $66.00 price target on the stock.

BLBD has been the topic of a number of other reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.64.

Blue Bird Price Performance

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $40.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $17.79 and a 52 week high of $59.40. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.62.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In related news, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $987,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after purchasing an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter worth $4,000,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Blue Bird by 95.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after buying an additional 25,563 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 360.0% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 105,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after buying an additional 82,681 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.