Wall Street Zen Upgrades Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) to “Buy”

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bristow Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Bristow Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Bristow Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JonesTrading started coverage on Bristow Group in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristow Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Bristow Group Price Performance

NYSE:VTOL opened at $44.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.51. Bristow Group has a 12 month low of $25.11 and a 12 month high of $49.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.15. Bristow Group had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $377.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.33 million.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lorin L. Brass sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.04, for a total value of $159,380.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,033.20. This represents a 14.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maryanne Miller sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.90, for a total value of $98,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,252 shares in the company, valued at $909,314.80. This trade represents a 9.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,104 shares of company stock worth $2,824,206. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bristow Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,056,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,313,000 after acquiring an additional 71,638 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bristow Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,707,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,529,000 after purchasing an additional 29,192 shares in the last quarter. Taconic Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bristow Group by 6.4% in the second quarter. Taconic Capital Advisors LP now owns 1,331,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,885,000 after purchasing an additional 80,000 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Bristow Group by 21.3% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,224,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,387,000 after purchasing an additional 215,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Bristow Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,050,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,475,000 after purchasing an additional 35,080 shares during the last quarter. 93.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bristow Group Company Profile

Bristow Group Inc is a global provider of helicopter services to the offshore energy industry and search-and-rescue (SAR) operations worldwide. The company specializes in the safe and efficient transport of personnel, equipment and supplies to offshore oil and gas platforms, as well as emergency response and medevac services. Bristow’s operations support exploration, production and decommissioning activities, helping energy companies maintain continuity of production in some of the world’s most challenging environments.

The company maintains a diverse fleet of turbine-powered helicopters, including medium- and heavy-lift aircraft such as the Sikorsky S-92, Airbus H225 (formerly EC225) and Leonardo AW189.