Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VTOL. Wall Street Zen cut Bristow Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bristow Group in a report on Friday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bristow Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Bristow Group Price Performance

Shares of VTOL opened at $43.94 on Tuesday. Bristow Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.76 and a fifty-two week high of $50.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.60.

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.57). The company had revenue of $388.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $383.68 million. Bristow Group had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 11.10%. Research analysts predict that Bristow Group will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristow Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTOL. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bristow Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,613,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in Bristow Group in the 4th quarter valued at $16,942,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Bristow Group in the 4th quarter valued at $13,486,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bristow Group in the 1st quarter worth $6,611,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Bristow Group by 176.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 210,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,605,000 after acquiring an additional 134,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.29% of the company’s stock.

About Bristow Group

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.