Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Blue Bird's stock rating was downgraded from "strong-buy" to "hold" by Zacks Research due to changing market conditions.
• Despite the downgrade, BTIG Research raised its price target for Blue Bird from $55 to $65, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Blue Bird reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.19, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 19.4%.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BLBD. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.58.

Blue Bird Stock Up 4.6%

Blue Bird stock opened at $55.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $61.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.91.

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

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total value of $532,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,564,881.63. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total transaction of $490,187.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 48,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,392 shares of company stock worth $7,342,183. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. PFG Advisors lifted its position in Blue Bird by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 9,789 shares of the company's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 0.7% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 40,132 shares of the company's stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 34,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is 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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