Vest Financial LLC Acquires 45,105 Shares of Bristow Group Inc. $VTOL

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:VTOL) by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 90,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,105 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Bristow Group were worth $3,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Bristow Group in the second quarter valued at $162,017,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Bristow Group by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,753,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,212,000 after buying an additional 45,874 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Bristow Group by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 410,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,944,000 after buying an additional 59,858 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Bristow Group in the second quarter valued at about $7,463,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Bristow Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 145,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,815,000 after buying an additional 5,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VTOL. Zacks Research raised shares of Bristow Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bristow Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Insider Activity at Bristow Group

In other Bristow Group news, Director Lorin L. Brass sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $127,260.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,223 shares in the company, valued at $603,339.66. This represents a 17.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Stuart Stavley sold 10,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $472,071.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,990,988. This represents a 13.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,858 shares of company stock worth $2,431,989. Corporate insiders own 12.80% of the company’s stock.

Bristow Group Stock Performance

Shares of Bristow Group stock opened at $40.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.26 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.32 and a 200 day moving average of $43.75. Bristow Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.03 and a 12 month high of $50.38.

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $411.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.28 million. Bristow Group had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 6.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bristow Group Inc. will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristow Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bristow Group’s payout ratio is 14.41%.

Bristow Group Company Profile

Bristow Group Inc (NYSE: VTOL) is a provider of aviation services, specializing in helicopter transportation and support for the offshore energy industry, government agencies and other commercial customers. The company operates helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to transport personnel and equipment, support offshore installations and provide specialized aviation services.

Bristow’s government services include search-and-rescue operations, emergency response and aviation support conducted under long-term contracts.