Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, an increase of 23.8% from the April 30th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 539,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BLBD stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 575,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 547,220. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.40. Blue Bird has a 12-month low of $17.59 and a 12-month high of $57.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $345.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. On average, research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BLBD. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Blue Bird from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.25.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,292,000 after acquiring an additional 505,727 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 783.6% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,376,000 after acquiring an additional 389,459 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 245.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 509,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 361,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,587,000 after purchasing an additional 305,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

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.