Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades BrightView (NYSE:BV) to Buy

BrightView (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $17.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $13.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 8.63% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BV. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BrightView from $10.00 to $11.30 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital raised shares of BrightView to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded BrightView from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BrightView from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Baird R W raised BrightView from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BrightView has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.38.

BrightView Stock Up 7.6 %

Shares of NYSE BV traded up $1.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,086,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,947. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 78.25 and a beta of 1.29. BrightView has a one year low of $6.58 and a one year high of $15.90.

BrightView (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. BrightView had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 2.06%. The firm had revenue of $738.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $736.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BrightView will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.48, for a total value of $218,400,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,133,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at $413,501,375.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BrightView

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in BrightView in the fourth quarter valued at about $573,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BrightView during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,673,000. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in BrightView by 95.0% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 62,345 shares of the company's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 30,368 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in BrightView in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in BrightView in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

About BrightView

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.