Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of BLBD traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.32. The company had a trading volume of 534,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,890. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.14 and a 200-day moving average of $44.79. Blue Bird has a 12 month low of $17.59 and a 12 month high of $59.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 116.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total transaction of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blue Bird news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 32,159 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.93, for a total transaction of $1,573,539.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,669,801.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.08, for a total transaction of $235,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,186,636.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,732 shares of company stock worth $2,835,622. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLBD. Quarry LP grew its position in Blue Bird by 43.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at $282,000. Algert Global LLC grew its position in Blue Bird by 360.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 105,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 82,681 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at $976,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Blue Bird by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 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.