Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 4,933.13 ($63.19).

AHT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Ashtead Group from GBX 5,300 ($67.89) to GBX 5,100 ($65.33) and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 6,150 ($78.78) target price on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a GBX 6,600 ($84.54) target price on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Ashtead Group from GBX 6,800 ($87.10) to GBX 6,500 ($83.26) and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th.

Ashtead Group Stock Performance

LON AHT opened at GBX 5,064.80 ($64.88) on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of £22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 1,728.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 5,573.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 5,442.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 162.35, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Ashtead Group has a 1-year low of GBX 4,437 ($56.83) and a 1-year high of GBX 6,180 ($79.16).

Ashtead Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. This is a positive change from Ashtead Group’s previous dividend of $0.16. This represents a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Ashtead Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,749.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brendan Horgan sold 37,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 5,112 ($65.48), for a total transaction of £1,894,660.56 ($2,426,874.04). In other news, insider Renata Ribeiro bought 160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 5,273 ($67.54) per share, with a total value of £8,436.80 ($10,806.71). Also, insider Brendan Horgan sold 37,063 shares of Ashtead Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 5,112 ($65.48), for a total value of £1,894,660.56 ($2,426,874.04). 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ashtead Group Company Profile

Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services.