Blue Bird’s (BLBD) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $40.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $35.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a buy rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $35.42.

Blue Bird Stock Up 6.8 %

Shares of BLBD opened at $36.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.36. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $17.43 and a 1 year high of $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.05.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 223.85%. The business had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.00 million. Analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $1,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,812 shares in the company, valued at $13,044,548. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $1,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 449,812 shares in the company, valued at $13,044,548. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gurminder S. Bedi sold 8,719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $274,212.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $594,279.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 220.1% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $89,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 568.8% during the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $217,000. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.