Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, signaling increased confidence in the company's stock.
• Analysts have mixed forecasts for Blue Bird's stock price, with Needham raising its target from $49 to $53, while Barclays and DA Davidson lowered theirs.
• Blue Bird reported a strong quarterly performance, with earnings per share of $1.19, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 19.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.36.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.69. 682,059 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,093. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's fifty day moving average is $43.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Blue Bird has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $60.45.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. The company 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 72,849 shares of company stock worth $3,743,780. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 1,879.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 196,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 186,799 shares in the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $424,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Blue Bird by 96.0% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 13,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 6,517 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 36.9% in the first quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 26,357 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Blue Bird by 36.5% in the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 81,379 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.