Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) Stock Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE:VTOL)’s share price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.93 and traded as high as $41.70. Bristow Group shares last traded at $41.1150, with a volume of 273,472 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on VTOL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bristow Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Bristow Group in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Bristow Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristow Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Bristow Group Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.89.

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $437.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $443.25 million. Bristow Group had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 7.47%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bristow Group Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristow Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $0.1250 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. Bristow Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.66%.

Insider Transactions at Bristow Group

In other news, insider Alternative Asset Manage Solus sold 897 shares of the business’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 transaction of $38,571.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,840,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,138,748. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stuart Stavley sold 10,218 shares of the business’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 value of $472,071.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,740 shares in the company, valued at $2,990,988. This trade represents a 13.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 53,858 shares of company stock worth $2,431,989. 12.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bristow Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Bristow Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,015,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Bristow Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,960,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Bristow Group in the second quarter worth about $162,017,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Bristow Group in the second quarter worth about $1,431,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Bristow Group by 17.1% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 410,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,944,000 after buying an additional 59,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.29% of the company’s stock.

About Bristow Group

Bristow Group, Inc. provides helicopter and other aviation services, primarily supporting offshore energy operations and government customers. Its services include transporting personnel and supplies to offshore installations, as well as search-and-rescue operations and related aviation support. The company serves customers across several regions, including the Americas, Europe, Africa and Australia. Its operations include contracted search-and-rescue services in parts of Europe and the United Kingdom, alongside aviation services for the energy industry.