BrightView (NYSE:BV) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of BrightView (NYSE:BV) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BV. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $10.00 target price (up previously from $8.00) on shares of BrightView in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded BrightView from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of BrightView from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $13.80.

BrightView Stock Up 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BV opened at $15.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.57 and its 200 day moving average is $11.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.20 and a beta of 1.30. BrightView has a 52-week low of $6.58 and a 52-week high of $15.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

BrightView (NYSE:BV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. BrightView had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 1.80%. The firm had revenue of $672.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $683.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that BrightView will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of BrightView stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total transaction of $218,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,133,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $413,501,375.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BV. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in BrightView by 8.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of BrightView by 59.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 2,726 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of BrightView by 5.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 74,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in BrightView by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,124 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in BrightView by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 4,624 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

BrightView Company Profile

BrightView Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Maintenance Services and Development Services. The Maintenance Services segment delivers a suite of recurring commercial landscaping services, including mowing, gardening, mulching and snow removal, water management, irrigation maintenance, tree care, golf course maintenance, and specialty turf maintenance.