Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Earns Buy Rating from Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a buy rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Blue Bird from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $35.42.

Blue Bird Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of BLBD opened at $33.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.30. Blue Bird has a 52-week low of $17.43 and a 52-week high of $39.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $34.54 and its 200-day moving average is $27.15.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $1,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,044,548. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $1,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 449,812 shares in the company, valued at $13,044,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,482 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 107,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,291,000 after acquiring an additional 51,205 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at $630,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 8.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,304,000 after acquiring an additional 160,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 13.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,206,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,754,000 after acquiring an additional 144,697 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.