Analysts Set Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target at $82.17

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.1667.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital lowered Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,931,000 after acquiring an additional 135,562 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 41.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,102,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,669,000 after purchasing an additional 324,710 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,048,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,257,000 after purchasing an additional 8,430 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 865,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,661,000 after purchasing an additional 109,668 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 769,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Blue Bird stock opened at $76.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.20. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $42.95 and a 12 month high of $83.39. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $352.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

About Blue Bird

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.