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

Roth Mkm restated their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Blue Bird from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a buy rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $35.42.

Blue Bird Price Performance

BLBD stock opened at $33.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $17.49 and a 1-year high of $39.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.25.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. Equities 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 news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $2,325,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 374,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,619,172. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Gurminder S. Bedi sold 8,719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $274,212.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $594,279.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $2,325,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 374,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,619,172. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock valued at $139,735,973. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Tectonic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter worth about $556,000. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 29.6% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 2.3% in the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 726,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,518,000 after buying an additional 16,232 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 8.0% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the third quarter worth about $452,000. Institutional investors 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.