Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Roth Mkm raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $43.00. Roth Mkm currently has a buy rating on the stock. Blue Bird traded as high as $47.98 and last traded at $47.54, with a volume of 358134 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.54.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 57,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $1,899,546.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,893,796. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Blue Bird news, Director Gurminder S. Bedi sold 8,719 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $274,212.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,896 shares in the company, valued at $594,279.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 57,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $1,899,546.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,893,796. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,115,159 shares of company stock valued at $135,385,519. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 29.6% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 2.3% during the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 726,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,518,000 after purchasing an additional 16,232 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Blue Bird by 8.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.13 and a 200-day moving average of $28.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.22 EPS 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.