Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

BLBD has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Blue Bird from $78.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Blue Bird in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Capital cut shares of Blue Bird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Blue Bird from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.17.

Blue Bird Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ BLBD opened at $76.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Blue Bird has a 12-month low of $42.95 and a 12-month high of $83.39. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Institutional Trading of Blue Bird

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blue Bird by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,925,000 after acquiring an additional 16,501 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 279.7% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 15,867 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 161.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 277,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,056,000 after purchasing an additional 171,642 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,041,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,931,000 after purchasing an additional 135,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 285.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,787,000 after purchasing an additional 75,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the company’s stock.

About Blue Bird

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.