Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Trading 4.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) shot up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $43.28 and last traded at $43.24. 108,925 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 572,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLBD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Roth Capital cut Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.31.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,715,507.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 16,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $761,227.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 331,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,715,507.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Britton Smith sold 2,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.81, for a total value of $124,923.48. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 80,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,532.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,240 shares of company stock valued at $2,725,146 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Blue Bird during the first quarter valued at approximately $83,817,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after purchasing an additional 505,727 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Blue Bird by 81.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,432,000 after buying an additional 229,004 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 279.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,587,000 after acquiring an additional 305,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 91.5% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 329,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,636,000 after acquiring an additional 157,468 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.