Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given New $49.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its price objective lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $66.00 to $49.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BLBD has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Blue Bird from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research began coverage on Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price target on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blue Bird has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.21.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD opened at $37.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.37. Blue Bird has a twelve month low of $29.00 and a twelve month high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 91.12%. As a group, research analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $822,244.19. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,347 shares in the company, valued at $3,832,092.83. The trade was a 17.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Blue Bird during the third quarter worth $26,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 4,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 9.3% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in Blue Bird by 13.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

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.