Wall Street Zen Upgrades BKV (NYSE:BKV) to Hold

BKV (NYSE:BKV) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of BKV in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of BKV from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BKV in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of BKV in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of BKV from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BKV currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.25.

BKV Price Performance

Shares of BKV opened at $29.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. BKV has a 1-year low of $15.00 and a 1-year high of $32.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.54.

BKV (NYSE:BKV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $259.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.05 million. BKV had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 17.16%. As a group, analysts forecast that BKV will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

BKV declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David Tameron sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.71, for a total value of $216,883.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,839,791.75. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BKV during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in BKV by 37.9% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in BKV in the third quarter valued at approximately $278,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in BKV in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,509,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in BKV in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,215,000.

BKV Company Profile

BKV Corporation engages in the acquisition, operation, and development of natural gas and NGL properties. It is also involved in the gathering, processing, and transportation of natural gas. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Denver, Colorado with additional offices in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania and Fort Worth, Texas. BKV Corporation, LLC operates as a subsidiary of Banpu North America Corporation.