Brokerages Set BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV) Price Target at $14.70

Shares of BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.70.

Several analysts recently issued reports on BV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on BrightView from $13.50 to $10.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. CJS Securities raised BrightView to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on BrightView from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research raised BrightView from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of BrightView from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th.

BrightView Stock Performance

BV stock opened at $13.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 329.88 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.61. BrightView has a 52 week low of $11.06 and a 52 week high of $17.10.

BrightView (NYSE:BV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $702.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.03 million. BrightView had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BrightView will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BrightView news, Director William L. Cornog acquired 10,000 shares of BrightView stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.84 per share, with a total value of $128,400.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $385,200. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Mark Gottsegen sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.62, for a total transaction of $441,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 142,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,804,129.96. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of BrightView by 68.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,357,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,609,000 after purchasing an additional 552,727 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in BrightView by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 43,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 15,280 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC increased its position in BrightView by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,808,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,753,000 after buying an additional 227,500 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of BrightView by 364.1% during the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 194,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,230,000 after buying an additional 152,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of BrightView by 31.5% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,326,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,093,000 after acquiring an additional 317,846 shares during the period. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About BrightView

BrightView Inc (NYSE:BV) is a leading commercial landscaping services company in the United States, offering a comprehensive suite of outdoor asset management solutions. The company’s core business activities include landscape maintenance, development and enhancement services tailored to a wide array of clients such as corporate campuses, healthcare facilities, multi-family residential properties, retail centers and municipalities.

BrightView’s service portfolio covers routine grounds maintenance, landscape construction and design-build, irrigation system installation and management, tree care, seasonal color programs and snow and ice management.