Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Stock Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $63.04 and traded as high as $70.54. Blue Bird shares last traded at $70.19, with a volume of 380,304 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLBD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.80.

Blue Bird Stock Down 3.4%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.31 and a 200-day moving average of $56.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.38.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $352.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.Blue Bird’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other news, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total value of $303,939.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 39,011 shares in the company, valued at $2,283,703.94. This trade represents a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 185.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,283,000 after buying an additional 601,690 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 197.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 712,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,497,000 after purchasing an additional 472,990 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 383.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 425,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,471,000 after buying an additional 337,196 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,102,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,669,000 after buying an additional 324,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter worth about $14,134,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Company Profile

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.