Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Stock Keeps Market Outperform Rating at Citizens Jmp

Key Points

• Citizens JMP reiterated its “market outperform” rating on Braze, with a $35 price target implying 32.94% upside. Analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average target of $38.21.
• Braze exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 earnings per share versus the $0.16 consensus and $227.23 million in revenue versus $220.27 million expected; revenue increased 26.2% year over year.
• Shares opened at $26.33, while insiders have sold $6.1 million of stock over the past three months. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own approximately 90.47% of Braze’s shares.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating restated by Citizens Jmp in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $35.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 32.94% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BRZE. UBS Group raised their price objective on Braze from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $35.00 target price on Braze in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Braze from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Braze in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.21.

Braze Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BRZE opened at $26.33 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.60 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Braze has a 1-year low of $15.26 and a 1-year high of $37.33. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.67 and its 200-day moving average is $24.31.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 8th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.03. Braze had a negative return on equity of 16.11% and a negative net margin of 13.55%.The company had revenue of $227.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Braze has set its FY 2027 guidance at 0.640-0.650 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 0.130-0.140 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Braze will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Edward Mcdonnell sold 29,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.38, for a total transaction of $932,990.16. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 409,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,854,189.40. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 42,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.47, for a total value of $1,363,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,143,219 shares in the company, valued at $37,120,320.93. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 203,568 shares of company stock valued at $6,096,461. 12.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Braze

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Braze by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,739 shares of the company's stock worth $71,430,000 after acquiring an additional 84,365 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Braze by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,885,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,518,000 after acquiring an additional 439,513 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Braze by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,370,986 shares of the company's stock worth $32,369,000 after buying an additional 137,843 shares during the period. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Braze in the 4th quarter worth $25,639,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Braze during the 1st quarter valued at about $14,294,000. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Braze

Braze, Inc is a customer engagement software company that helps businesses build and manage personalized interactions with consumers. Its cloud-based platform enables organizations to collect and analyze customer data, create audience segments, and deliver marketing messages across multiple channels.

The Braze platform supports communication through mobile and web applications, email, SMS, messaging services, and other digital channels. Its offerings include campaign orchestration, customer journey management, in-app and browser messaging, personalization, analytics, experimentation, and artificial intelligence tools designed to help companies improve customer retention and engagement.

The company was founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Mark Ghermezian, and Jon Hyman, and later adopted the Braze name.