Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.58.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,977,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,177,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Blue Bird by 783.6% in the 3rd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,376,000 after buying an additional 389,459 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 245.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 509,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,867,000 after buying an additional 361,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 72.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 658,058 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,741,000 after buying an additional 276,222 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $33.62. 507,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,796. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.67. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $17.37 and a 1-year high of $39.01.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 1.87 EPS 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.