Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Blue Bird Co. (NASDAQ:BLBD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, an increase of 19.1% from the May 31st total of 898,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 547,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Blue Bird Stock Down 1.0 %

BLBD stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,344,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,931. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Blue Bird has a twelve month low of $17.59 and a twelve month high of $59.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.62.

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $345.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 research analysts predict that Blue Bird will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blue Bird

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Blue Bird in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 4.8% in the 4th 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 period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 220.1% in the 4th 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. American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 13,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blue Bird by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 47,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. 93.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Blue Bird Company Profile

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.