BrightView (NYSE:BV) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BrightView (NYSE:BV) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BrightView in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of BrightView from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BrightView from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of BrightView in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $14.00 target price on BrightView in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.10.

BrightView Stock Performance

Shares of BV opened at $11.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -45.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.18. BrightView has a one year low of $10.42 and a one year high of $15.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.92.

BrightView (NYSE:BV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.12). BrightView had a return on equity of 5.03% and a net margin of 0.74%.The business had revenue of $717.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $726.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BrightView will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other BrightView news, Director William L. Cornog acquired 50,000 shares of BrightView stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.25 per share, with a total value of $562,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 70,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,500. The trade was a 250.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BrightView

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in BrightView during the second quarter worth about $80,091,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BrightView by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,268,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,118,000 after purchasing an additional 192,376 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of BrightView by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 5,038,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,405,000 after purchasing an additional 179,757 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of BrightView by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,648,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,226,000 after buying an additional 80,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BrightView by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,879,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,162,000 after buying an additional 99,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

BrightView Company Profile

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.