Zacks Research Downgrades BKV (NYSE:BKV) to Strong Sell

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

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BKV. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of BKV in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BKV in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on BKV from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on BKV from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of BKV in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.86.

BKV Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE BKV opened at $31.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.60. BKV has a fifty-two week low of $15.00 and a fifty-two week high of $31.74.

BKV (NYSE:BKV) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $259.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.05 million. BKV had a net margin of 17.16% and a return on equity of 8.43%. On average, analysts predict that BKV will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

BKV declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BKV

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new position in BKV in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,215,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BKV by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,114,000 after buying an additional 160,171 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in BKV in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,509,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in BKV during the 3rd quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. purchased a new stake in BKV in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000.

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.