Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Roth Mkm

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Roth Mkm in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00. Roth Mkm’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.32% from the company’s previous close.

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

Blue Bird Stock Performance

BLBD opened at $34.99 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.10. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $17.43 and a 1 year high of $39.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 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 (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. Equities analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total transaction of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 783.6% during the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 439,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,376,000 after buying an additional 389,459 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 245.7% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 509,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,867,000 after buying an additional 361,763 shares in the last quarter. Brightline Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the fourth quarter worth $7,279,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the third quarter worth $5,685,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 496.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 221,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,723,000 after buying an additional 184,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently 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.