Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its price target lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $53.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.42.

Blue Bird Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $51.63 on Monday. Blue Bird has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $61.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.37 and a 200 day moving average of $47.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.29. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 61.66%. The company had revenue of $398.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Ted Scartz sold 8,877 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total transaction of $490,187.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 48,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,024.18. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Phil Horlock sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.02, for a total transaction of $767,260.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,210,009.32. This trade represents a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 127,392 shares of company stock valued at $7,342,183 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Advisors raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 2.6% during the second quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 9,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 0.7% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 40,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 9.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 1.0% during the second quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 34,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 5.4% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is owned by 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.