Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) SVP Ted Scartz Sells 2,985 Shares

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) SVP Ted Scartz sold 2,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $145,071.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 51,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,520,541.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Blue Bird Trading Up 0.6 %

BLBD opened at $46.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Blue Bird Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.59 and a fifty-two week high of $59.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $50.56 and its 200 day moving average is $43.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.42. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. The company had revenue of $333.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Blue Bird Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 220.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Blue Bird in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.