Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.31 EPS

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.31, Zacks reports. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Blue Bird stock traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 825,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,913. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $61.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.31. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $53.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blue Bird in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.92.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 6,709 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.41, for a total value of $385,163.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,341,983.54. This represents a 14.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the sale, the director owned 240,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. This represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the third quarter valued at approximately $822,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 10,028.6% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,757,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Blue Bird in the third quarter worth about $460,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 113,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,536,000 after purchasing an additional 6,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.