Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $31.00 and last traded at $31.33, with a volume of 35229 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BLBD shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Trading Down 3.5 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blue Bird Co. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $822,244.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Creative Planning raised its stake in Blue Bird by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 78,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,761,000 after buying an additional 39,978 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,517,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 58,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,783,000 after buying an additional 21,919 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Company Profile

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.