Wall Street Zen Downgrades BKV (NYSE:BKV) to Strong Sell

BKV (NYSE:BKV) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

BKV has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research raised BKV from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BKV from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of BKV in a report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BKV from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of BKV in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.25.

BKV Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BKV opened at $26.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.24. BKV has a 12-month low of $20.08 and a 12-month high of $32.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

BKV (NYSE:BKV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $465.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.25 million. BKV had a return on equity of 6.67% and a net margin of 17.73%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BKV will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lindsay B. Larrick sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total transaction of $261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,195,478. This represents a 10.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David Tameron sold 4,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.56, for a total value of $114,765.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,524 shares in the company, valued at $1,554,397.44. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,198 shares of company stock valued at $733,271. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of BKV during the 2nd quarter worth about $15,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BKV during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,689,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BKV by 110.5% during the second quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC now owns 679,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,602,000 after buying an additional 356,848 shares during the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BKV in the second quarter worth approximately $1,135,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BKV by 24.7% in the first quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 2,103,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,984,000 after buying an additional 416,281 shares during the period.

About BKV

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.