BKV (NYSE:BKV) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

BKV (NYSE:BKV) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

BKV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on BKV in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of BKV in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on BKV from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of BKV from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of BKV in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.86.

BKV Price Performance

BKV traded up $1.28 on Thursday, hitting $31.28. 999,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 652,465. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83. BKV has a 12 month low of $15.00 and a 12 month high of $31.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.44.

BKV (NYSE:BKV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.08). BKV had a net margin of 17.16% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The firm had revenue of $259.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.05 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that BKV will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BKV declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 18th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of BKV

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKV. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new position in BKV in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its stake in shares of BKV by 37.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of BKV during the third quarter worth $278,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of BKV during the fourth quarter worth $1,509,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BKV in the second quarter worth $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.