Citizens Jmp Reiterates Market Outperform Rating for Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE)

Key Points

• Citizens Jmp reiterated a "Market Outperform" rating on Braze with a $35 price target, implying roughly a 56% upside from the prior close.
• The analyst consensus remains bullish (22 Buys, 1 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $36.90; Braze trades at $22.39 (market cap ~$2.54B) after reporting revenue of $205.2M (+27.9% YoY) that beat estimates while missing on EPS and remaining unprofitable.
• Insiders have sold shares recently (≈95,676 shares in 90 days) and own ~18.2% of the stock, while institutional ownership is very high at 90.47% amid notable position increases by several hedge funds.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Citizens Jmp in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp's price objective suggests a potential upside of 56.34% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Braze from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Braze from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Braze in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Braze from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.90.

Braze Price Performance

NASDAQ BRZE traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.39. 416,425 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,145,687. Braze has a 52-week low of $15.26 and a 52-week high of $37.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $20.60 and its 200-day moving average is $25.22.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.04). Braze had a negative net margin of 17.78% and a negative return on equity of 18.75%. The business had revenue of $205.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $198.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Braze will post -0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Jonathan Hyman sold 7,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $125,129.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,692,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,661,355.69. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Pankaj Malik sold 2,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.93, for a total transaction of $48,978.49. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 50,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $857,995.47. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,676 shares of company stock worth $1,737,811. 18.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Braze

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BRZE. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Braze by 592.4% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,105,024 shares of the company's stock worth $72,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,019 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Braze by 443.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,395 shares of the company's stock worth $39,941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,748 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Braze by 421.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,279,678 shares of the company's stock worth $36,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,087 shares during the period. Battery Management CORP. boosted its position in shares of Braze by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Battery Management CORP. now owns 2,425,000 shares of the company's stock worth $68,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Braze by 238.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,351,227 shares of the company's stock worth $38,429,000 after purchasing an additional 951,674 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company's stock.

Braze Company Profile

Braze, Inc is a publicly traded software company NASDAQ: BRZE that offers a customer engagement platform designed to help brands build personalized relationships with their users. Founded in 2011 as Appboy by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian, the company adopted the Braze name in 2017 to underscore its focus on fostering strong connections between businesses and consumers. Its cloud-based platform consolidates messaging channels including push notifications, in-app messages, email and SMS, enabling companies to deliver timely, context-driven communications at scale.

The core functionality of Braze's platform centers on data-driven segmentation, customer journey orchestration and real-time analytics.

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