Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.79.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BLBD. Barclays lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Blue Bird Price Performance

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $39.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business's fifty day moving average is $35.58 and its 200 day moving average is $37.60. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. Blue Bird's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Blue Bird by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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