Analysts Set Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Target Price at $56.79

Shares of Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.79.

BLBD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Phil Horlock sold 8,860 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.04, for a total value of $363,614.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 270,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,112,236.64. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. FMR LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 162.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 1,394.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,619,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,158 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Blue Bird by 355.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,126,000 after purchasing an additional 689,394 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,906,000 after purchasing an additional 544,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,402,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,760,000 after purchasing an additional 468,936 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of Blue Bird stock opened at $41.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.42 and a 200 day moving average of $37.54. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $56.44.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 64.83% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 3.86 earnings per share 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.