Needham & Company LLC Raises Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target to $86.00

Key Points

• Needham & Company raised its price target on Blue Bird to $86 (from $78) and maintained a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 32.2% upside from the current price.
• Blue Bird topped expectations in the latest quarter with EPS of $1.00 versus $0.80 expected and revenue of $333.1M versus $325.7M, and the company shows solid profitability metrics (net margin 8.65%, ROE 57.6%).
• Company insiders (including the COO and CFO) have recently sold shares while institutional ownership remains very high at about 93.6%, though insiders still hold roughly 1.1% of shares.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $78.00 to $86.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 32.23% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BLBD. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.80.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $65.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. Blue Bird has a 52-week low of $36.01 and a 52-week high of $66.13. The business's 50 day moving average price is $58.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $333.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.74 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 57.60%. Blue Bird's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blue Bird news, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total transaction of $303,939.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 39,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,283,703.94. This trade represents a 11.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 3,925 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.98, for a total transaction of $239,346.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,255 shares in the company, valued at $2,576,709.90. This represents a 8.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Blue Bird by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 30.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 2,090.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Blue Bird by 12.5% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 12,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Blue Bird during the second quarter worth $3,799,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Company Profile

Blue Bird Corporation NASDAQ: BLBD is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company's core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.

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