Investors Purchase High Volume of BrightView Call Options (NYSE:BV)

Key Points

• BrightView call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 5,781 call options, roughly 57,710% above the typical daily volume of 10 contracts.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: BrightView has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $14.10 target price, while individual ratings range from “Strong Buy” to “Strong Sell.”
• Shares traded at $10.27 after rising $0.35, but the company recently missed quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.17 in EPS versus an expected $0.29.

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 5,781 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 57,710% compared to the typical daily volume of 10 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BV shares. Wall Street Zen raised BrightView from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of BrightView in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $14.00 target price on shares of BrightView in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded BrightView from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BrightView from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William Cornog purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.25 per share, with a total value of $562,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 70,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $787,500. This represents a 250.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BrightView

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BV. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BrightView in the 2nd quarter worth $182,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of BrightView by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 34,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 18,900 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of BrightView in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,189,000. AWH Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of BrightView in the second quarter worth approximately $6,022,250. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in BrightView during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 92.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BrightView Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BV traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.27. 262,360 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 754,070. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. BrightView has a one year low of $9.81 and a one year high of $15.00. The company has a market cap of $956.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.82 and a 200 day moving average of $12.37.

BrightView (NYSE:BV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $717.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $726.13 million. BrightView had a return on equity of 5.03% and a net margin of 0.74%.BrightView's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BrightView will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About BrightView

BrightView Holdings, Inc provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. The company serves businesses, municipalities, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, homeowners' associations, sports and entertainment venues, and other organizations that require landscape management and related outdoor services.

Its services include landscape maintenance, landscape design and development, irrigation installation and management, tree care, water management, and snow and ice removal.

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