BTIG Research Raises Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target to $80.00

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at BTIG Research from $65.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 23.00% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.80.

Blue Bird Stock Up 2.6%

BLBD opened at $65.04 on Thursday. Blue Bird has a one year low of $36.01 and a one year high of $66.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $333.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.74 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 57.60% and a net margin of 8.65%.The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 3,925 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,576,709.90. This trade represents a 8.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total transaction of $303,939.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 39,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,283,703.94. This trade represents a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,931,000 after acquiring an additional 135,562 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,048,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,257,000 after purchasing an additional 8,430 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Blue Bird by 185.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 925,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,283,000 after purchasing an additional 601,690 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 865,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,661,000 after purchasing an additional 109,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 777,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,534,000 after purchasing an additional 84,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

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.