Needham & Company LLC Increases Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Price Target to $52.00

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 38.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted 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. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $37.54 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.22. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $17.59 and a 52 week high of $39.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.52. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 223.85% and a net margin of 5.04%. The company had revenue of $317.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. On average, analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blue Bird

In other news, CEO Phil Horlock sold 57,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $1,899,546.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at $9,893,796. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Britton Smith sold 6,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.49, for a total transaction of $208,575.72. Following the transaction, the president now owns 87,250 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,002.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phil Horlock sold 57,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $1,899,546.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 299,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,893,796. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,115,159 shares of company stock valued at $135,385,519 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLBD. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth approximately $259,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 149.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,694,000 after purchasing an additional 88,889 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,134,000. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 24,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 3,369 shares during the period. 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.