Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $63.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.21.

Blue Bird Price Performance

Shares of BLBD stock opened at $33.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Blue Bird has a 1-year low of $30.67 and a 1-year high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.03. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $822,244.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLBD. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Blue Bird by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,840,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,453 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 355.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 883,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,126,000 after buying an additional 689,394 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 236.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,906,000 after acquiring an additional 544,248 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 540.2% during the fourth quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 540,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,877,000 after acquiring an additional 456,015 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Blue Bird by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 782,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,227,000 after purchasing an additional 312,493 shares in the last quarter. 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.