Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BrightView (NYSE:BV) Stock Price

BrightView (NYSE:BV) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $14.00 to $12.50 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.43% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of BrightView in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BrightView from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $14.00 price objective on shares of BrightView in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer began 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, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BrightView in a research note on Friday, July 31st. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.10.

BrightView Trading Up 4.0%

BV traded up $0.42 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.02. 775,031 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,864. BrightView has a 1 year low of $10.42 and a 1 year high of $15.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.15 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NYSE:BV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.12). BrightView had a net margin of 0.74% and a return on equity of 5.00%. The company had revenue of $717.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BrightView will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BrightView

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BV. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in BrightView by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in BrightView by 3.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BrightView by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 173,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of BrightView by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 140,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of BrightView by 6.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BrightView

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.