Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Acquires $19,527.00 in Stock

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Director Daniel Mark Thau purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.09 per share, with a total value of $19,527.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,022.64. The trade was a 3.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD traded up $0.66 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.31. The company had a trading volume of 325,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,991. Blue Bird Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.68 and a twelve month high of $81.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 53.68% and a net margin of 8.91%.The company had revenue of $352.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blue Bird Corporation will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 7.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 4,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 0.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 67,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,856,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLBD. Freedom Capital cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Zacks Research lowered Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.80.

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.