BrightView (NYSE:BV) Shares Gap Up to $14.54

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.54, but opened at $15.43. BrightView shares last traded at $15.16, with a volume of 31,259 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BV. Loop Capital raised BrightView to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BrightView from $10.00 to $11.30 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded BrightView from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BrightView from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of BrightView from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.38.

BrightView Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $13.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.14.

BrightView (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. BrightView had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The company had revenue of $738.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. BrightView's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BrightView Holdings, Inc. will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BrightView news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $218,400,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,133,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at $413,501,375.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BrightView

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of BrightView by 12.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 471,769 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after buying an additional 51,888 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in BrightView by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BrightView during the 2nd quarter worth about $13,086,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BrightView during the 2nd quarter worth about $133,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of BrightView by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.