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

Key Points

• Blue Bird Corporation has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from nine analysts, with a target price averaging $57.36.
• The company recently saw insider selling, with CFO Razvan Radulescu selling 10,000 shares and SVP Ted Scartz selling 8,877 shares, indicating a decrease in their holdings.
• Blue Bird reported earnings that exceeded estimates for the past quarter, achieving $1.19 EPS against a consensus of $0.90, while revenue increased by 19.4% year-over-year.

Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.3571.

BLBD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at $14,445,960. The trade was a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total transaction of $532,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,881.63. This trade represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,832 shares of company stock worth $7,559,425 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 159.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 993 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 55.0% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 440.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,442 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of Blue Bird stock traded down $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.39. 566,068 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,214. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.74. Blue Bird has a twelve month low of $30.04 and a twelve month high of $60.45. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.61.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The business had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.