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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on BLBD. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $67.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Blue Bird from $66.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Blue Bird from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.79.

Blue Bird Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BLBD opened at $40.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.69. Blue Bird has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $358.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $348.23 million. Blue Bird had a return on equity of 75.22% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blue Bird

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Blue Bird by 976.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after acquiring an additional 116,707 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 13.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 60,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 263,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,175,000 after purchasing an additional 16,900 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Blue Bird by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 34,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 7,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Blue Bird in the fourth quarter valued at about $262,000. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.