Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Hits New 12-Month High After Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Blue Bird Corporation shares hit a new 52-week high of $55.70 following a quarterly earnings report that exceeded expectations, with earnings per share at $1.19 compared to the estimated $0.90.
• Analysts have varied recommendations for Blue Bird, with three ratings at "hold" and six as "buy," while the average price target stands at $57.36.
• Insider transactions included CFO Razvan Radulescu selling 10,000 shares at an average price of $45.19, leading to a 14.66% decrease in his ownership of the company's stock.

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $55.70 and last traded at $54.31, with a volume of 789994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.14.

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 analyst estimates of $377.64 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. Blue Bird's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 10,000 shares of Blue Bird 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 48,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,881.63. This trade represents a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,289 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.70, for a total transaction of $554,151.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 270,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,290,942.20. This represents a 4.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,901,766 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. PFG Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 9,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 9.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 1.0% in the second quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 34,350 shares of the company's stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Blue Bird by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,461 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Blue Bird by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,262 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Up 5.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.50.

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.