Babcock Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BW)

Babcock (NYSE:BW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 4,745 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 70% compared to the average volume of 2,788 call options.

Insider Transactions at Babcock

In other Babcock news, major shareholder Brc Group Holdings, Inc. sold 1,155,382 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $10,398,438.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Babcock by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 90,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Babcock by 93.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 395,945 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 190,814 shares during the period. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its position in Babcock by 49.2% in the second quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 2,574,848 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 849,602 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Babcock by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 127,382 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46,884 shares during the period. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Babcock during the 3rd quarter valued at $138,000. Institutional investors own 83.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BW. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Babcock from $1.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Babcock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Babcock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Northland Securities initiated coverage on Babcock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Babcock to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.00.

Babcock Trading Up 8.5%

NYSE BW traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,545,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,454,566. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.70 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.69. Babcock has a twelve month low of $0.22 and a twelve month high of $14.59.

Babcock (NYSE:BW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The technology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $161.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.10 million.

About Babcock

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc (NYSE: BW) is a specialized provider of energy and environmental technologies and services serving power generation and heavy industrial markets. The company designs, manufactures and maintains critical components and systems that support the safe and efficient operation of both fossil-fuel and renewable power facilities. Its core offerings include industrial and utility boilers, environmental control systems for emissions reduction, and aftermarket support services ranging from inspection and maintenance to spare parts management.

In addition to its boiler and emissions control portfolio, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises delivers lifecycle solutions aimed at enhancing plant performance and compliance.