Morgan Stanley Cuts BrightView (NYSE:BV) Price Target to $12.50

BrightView (NYSE:BV) had its target price dropped by Morgan Stanley from $14.00 to $12.50 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.43% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BrightView in a report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of BrightView in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of BrightView in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $14.00 target price on BrightView in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of BrightView from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.10.

BrightView Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BV traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.02. The stock had a trading volume of 775,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,864. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. BrightView has a 1 year low of $10.42 and a 1 year high of $15.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.96. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.15 and a beta of 1.18.

BrightView (NYSE:BV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.12). BrightView had a return on equity of 5.00% and a net margin of 0.74%.The firm had revenue of $717.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BrightView will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BV. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of BrightView by 3.8% in the first 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. boosted its position in shares of BrightView by 3.7% in the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 5,038,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,405,000 after acquiring an additional 179,757 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of BrightView by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,648,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,226,000 after acquiring an additional 80,446 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in BrightView by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,879,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,162,000 after purchasing an additional 99,103 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in BrightView by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,823,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,107,000 after purchasing an additional 81,480 shares during the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.