Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $85.33 According to Analysts

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.33.

BLBD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Blue Bird from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Roth Capital set a $93.00 price objective on Blue Bird in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $55.90 on Friday. Blue Bird has a one year low of $46.14 and a one year high of $83.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 6.80, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.04.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $517.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.73 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 39.97%. As a group, analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In other Blue Bird news, COO Jeffrey Sanfrey sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.40, for a total value of $249,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 35,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,184,686.40. This represents a 10.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLBD. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,493,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Blue Bird during the 2nd quarter valued at $94,222,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Blue Bird by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,102,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,669,000 after buying an additional 324,710 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Blue Bird in the 2nd quarter worth $63,565,000. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 739,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,041,000 after purchasing an additional 134,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ:BLBD) designs, manufactures, and sells school buses in North America. Its product portfolio includes Type A, Type C, and Type D school buses powered by gasoline, diesel, propane, and electric powertrains. The company also provides replacement parts and aftermarket support for its vehicles.

Founded in 1927, Blue Bird is one of the longstanding manufacturers in the school bus industry. Its buses are used by public and private schools, school districts, contractors, and other student transportation providers.