In the latest trading session, Blue Bird (BLBD) closed at $56.38, marking a +1.06% move from the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.79%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.01%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.15%.
The school bus maker's shares have seen a decrease of 4.01% over the last month, not keeping up with the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector's gain of 3.96% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.27%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Blue Bird in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.97, reflecting a 25.97% increase from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $380 million, up 8.51% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.04 per share and a revenue of $1.45 billion, representing changes of +16.76% and 0%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Blue Bird. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Currently, Blue Bird is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Blue Bird is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 13.43. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 13.7.
We can additionally observe that BLBD currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.47. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Automotive - Domestic was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.62 at yesterday's closing price.
The Automotive - Domestic industry is part of the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, positioning it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Blue Bird Corporation (BLBD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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