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

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) had its target price increased by Needham & Company LLC from $44.00 to $52.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on BLBD. Barclays upped their price target on Blue Bird from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Blue Bird in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $38.58.

Blue Bird Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLBD opened at $48.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.40. Blue Bird has a twelve month low of $17.59 and a twelve month high of $49.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.68 and a 200-day moving average of $28.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $317.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blue Bird will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blue Bird

In related news, Director Gurminder S. Bedi sold 8,719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $274,212.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $594,279.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Blue Bird news, major shareholder Asp Bb Holdings Llc sold 4,042,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.90, for a total value of $133,003,185.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gurminder S. Bedi sold 8,719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $274,212.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $594,279.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,115,159 shares of company stock valued at $135,385,519 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLBD. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Blue Bird by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 18,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 220.1% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 7.0% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

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.