Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.64.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on Blue Bird from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Roth Mkm cut Blue Bird from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Razvan Radulescu sold 19,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,832,092.83. This represents a 17.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 268.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,841,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341,259 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 26.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 752,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after purchasing an additional 156,298 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blue Bird by 8.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 725,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,798,000 after purchasing an additional 56,449 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Blue Bird by 0.4% in the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 635,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Blue Bird by 81.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 509,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,432,000 after buying an additional 229,004 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $24.08 and a 1 year high of $59.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.15 and its 200-day moving average is $46.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.59.

About Blue Bird

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.