Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Roth Mkm

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was downgraded by Roth Mkm from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $48.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.78% from the stock’s current price.

BLBD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $59.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.92 and a 200-day moving average of $47.09.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 116.23% and a net margin of 7.65%. The firm had revenue of $333.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $145,071.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,541.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,715,507.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock worth $2,725,146 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,134,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 104.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 49,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 25,102 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 63,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after acquiring an additional 505,727 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 2,177.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 52,912 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.