Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Receives $56.79 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.79.

A number of analysts have weighed in on BLBD shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

Blue Bird Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of BLBD stock traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $42.12. The stock had a trading volume of 189,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 631,001. Blue Bird has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $57.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.56. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 64.83%. The business had revenue of $358.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, Director Phil Horlock sold 8,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.04, for a total value of $363,614.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 270,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,112,236.64. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $354,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blue Bird by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,426,912 shares of the company's stock worth $93,752,000 after acquiring an additional 25,745 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Blue Bird by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 21,769 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Blue Bird by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,335,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,576,000 after purchasing an additional 160,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,790,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company's stock.

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.