Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Short Interest Update

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the target of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 898,100 shares, a drop of 30.9% from the May 15th total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 541,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Blue Bird from $44.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Blue Bird from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Blue Bird from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Blue Bird from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Blue Bird has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Blue Bird during the 1st quarter worth about $83,817,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Blue Bird by 8.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,028,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,304,000 after purchasing an additional 160,233 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blue Bird by 36.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,911,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,292,000 after purchasing an additional 505,727 shares in the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP boosted its stake in shares of Blue Bird by 5.4% in the third quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 1,173,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,045,000 after purchasing an additional 60,628 shares during the period. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 828,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 101,482 shares in the last quarter. 93.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blue Bird Trading Down 2.2 %

BLBD traded down $1.25 on Friday, hitting $55.79. The company had a trading volume of 311,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,634. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.99. Blue Bird has a 1 year low of $17.59 and a 1 year high of $59.40.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $345.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.00 million. Blue Bird had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 154.10%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blue Bird will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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.