Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $65.47 and last traded at $64.91, with a volume of 370613 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BLBD shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.20.

Blue Bird Trading Down 4.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.76.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $333.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.74 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 57.60%. Blue Bird’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird Corporation will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 3,925 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.98, for a total value of $239,346.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 42,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,576,709.90. The trade was a 8.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey Scott Sanfrey sold 5,192 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.54, for a total transaction of $303,939.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 39,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,283,703.94. This represents a 11.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 30.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 2,090.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 12.5% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 12,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the second quarter worth about $3,799,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.