Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BLBD. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Blue Bird in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson set a $86.00 price target on Blue Bird in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Freedom Capital downgraded Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Blue Bird from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.9%

BLBD stock opened at $78.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Blue Bird has a 52 week low of $42.00 and a 52 week high of $81.51.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.12. Blue Bird had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 53.68%. The firm had revenue of $352.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.23 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Blue Bird’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Blue Bird will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 85.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 629 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the first quarter valued at about $2,439,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 529,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,062,000 after purchasing an additional 19,576 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Blue Bird by 41.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,102,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,669,000 after purchasing an additional 324,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Blue Bird by 26.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 7,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Company Profile

Blue Bird Corporation (NASDAQ: BLBD) is a leading manufacturer of buses and mass transportation vehicles headquartered in Fort Valley, Georgia. The company’s core business encompasses the design, engineering, and production of school buses and activity buses, with a product lineup that includes conventional (Type C) models, transit-style (Type D) models and specialty configurations for special-needs and activity transport. In recent years, Blue Bird has expanded its offerings to include zero-emission electric school buses, reflecting its commitment to advanced propulsion technologies and environmental sustainability.

Established in 1927, Blue Bird has built a legacy of safety and reliability in student transportation.