Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Receives $58.21 Average PT from Analysts

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.21.

Several research firms recently commented on BLBD. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 2,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.12, for a total value of $108,565.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,379,871.68. This represents a 3.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLBD. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 34.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,784,000 after acquiring an additional 79,129 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 37.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 4,515 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 268.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after buying an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Trading Up 8.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $33.91 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.53 and its 200-day moving average is $39.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.38. Blue Bird has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 75.22%. Equities research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS 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.