Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) Shares Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:VTOL) fell 0.4% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $38.47 and last traded at $38.5270. 180,025 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 219,552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bristow Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.61 and a 200-day moving average of $43.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.23.

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $411.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.28 million. Bristow Group had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 6.66%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bristow Group Inc. will post 3.31 EPS 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 dividend of $0.1250 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Bristow Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristow Group

In other news, Director Lorin L. Brass sold 3,000 shares of Bristow Group 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $603,339.66. This trade represents a 17.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Alternative Asset Manage Solus sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $38,571.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,840,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,138,748. This represents a 0.03% 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 valued at $2,431,989. 12.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bristow Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTOL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristow Group by 56.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in Bristow Group by 17.4% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 6,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Bristow Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Bristow Group by 10.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 57,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after buying an additional 5,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Bristow Group by 128.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. 93.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bristow Group

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.