Royce & Associates LP Buys Shares of 355,000 Babcock $BW

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in Babcock (NYSE:BW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 355,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,251,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BW. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Babcock in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Babcock by 11,311.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 12,096 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 11,990 shares during the last quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Babcock in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Babcock in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Babcock by 3,605.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,496 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 24,808 shares during the last quarter. 83.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities set a $23.00 target price on shares of Babcock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Babcock from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Babcock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Babcock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Babcock

In other news, CEO Kenneth M. Young acquired 7,000 shares of Babcock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.14 per share, for a total transaction of $105,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,656,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,079,591.68. This represents a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Babcock Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Babcock stock opened at $18.41 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.27. Babcock has a 1-year low of $0.68 and a 1-year high of $22.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.92 and a beta of 1.08.

Babcock (NYSE:BW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The technology company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $214.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.72 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Babcock will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Babcock Company Profile

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc (NYSE: BW) is a specialized provider of energy and environmental technologies and services serving power generation and heavy industrial markets. The company designs, manufactures and maintains critical components and systems that support the safe and efficient operation of both fossil-fuel and renewable power facilities. Its core offerings include industrial and utility boilers, environmental control systems for emissions reduction, and aftermarket support services ranging from inspection and maintenance to spare parts management.

In addition to its boiler and emissions control portfolio, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises delivers lifecycle solutions aimed at enhancing plant performance and compliance.