Blue Bird’s (BLBD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Roth Mkm currently has a $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00.

BLBD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a buy rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Blue Bird from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $35.42.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLBD opened at $33.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.36. Blue Bird has a fifty-two week low of $17.49 and a fifty-two week high of $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total value of $208,575.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of Blue Bird stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,257,597 shares of company stock worth $139,735,973 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $318,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,154,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 2,177.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 52,912 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 44,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,702,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.