Short Interest in BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV) Expands By 9.3%

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,550,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the August 15th total of 5,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 578,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.6 days. Approximately 9.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

BrightView Price Performance

Shares of BV stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $15.52. 428,988 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 649,642. BrightView has a fifty-two week low of $6.58 and a fifty-two week high of $16.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.50 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.08.

BrightView (NYSE:BV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $738.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $736.94 million. BrightView had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 6.27%. BrightView’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BrightView will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BrightView from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded shares of BrightView from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of BrightView from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Loop Capital raised BrightView to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of BrightView from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.47.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BrightView in the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of BrightView in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in BrightView during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BrightView during the second quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BrightView in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

BrightView Company Profile

BrightView Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Maintenance Services and Development Services. The Maintenance Services segment delivers a suite of recurring commercial landscaping services, including mowing, gardening, mulching and snow removal, water management, irrigation maintenance, tree care, golf course maintenance, and specialty turf maintenance.