Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Trading Up 12% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Blue Bird Corporation's stock rose by 12% after Needham & Company upgraded its price target from $49.00 to $53.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Blue Bird reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.19, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.90, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 19.4%.
• Insider trading activity included CFO Razvan Radulescu selling 10,000 shares, resulting in a 14.66% decrease in his ownership of the stock.

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) shares rose 12% during trading on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $56.73 and last traded at $58.59. Approximately 480,692 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 540,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.31.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.36.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $42,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 47,503 shares in the company, valued at $2,851,130.06. This trade represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,445,960. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,849 shares of company stock valued at $3,743,780. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 100.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 159.9% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 993 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in 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 last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Trading Up 3.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.74.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The company had revenue of $398.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.