Close Brothers Group (LON:CBG) Trading Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Close Brothers Group plc (LON:CBG) traded up 5.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 293 ($3.78) and last traded at GBX 292.80 ($3.78). 442,840 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,359,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 276.40 ($3.57).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CBG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Close Brothers Group from GBX 610 ($7.87) to GBX 600 ($7.74) and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 430 ($5.55) price objective on shares of Close Brothers Group in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Close Brothers Group in a report on Tuesday, March 18th.

Close Brothers Group Trading Down 6.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 316.65 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 295.45. The firm has a market cap of £401.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.82.

Close Brothers Group (LON:CBG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 30.90 ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Close Brothers Group had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 5.78%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Close Brothers Group plc will post 66.0070671 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael N. Biggs purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 288 ($3.72) per share, with a total value of £14,400 ($18,575.85). 2.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Close Brothers Group Company Profile

Close Brothers Group plc, a merchant banking company, engages in the provision of financial services to small businesses and individuals in the United Kingdom. It operates through five segments: Commercial, Retail, Property, Asset Management, and Securities. The company offers banking services comprising of debt factoring, invoice discounting, asset-based lending; financing for SMEs, residential housing, transport, industrial equipment, renewable energy, motorcycle, used car, and commercial vehicle financing; insurance, refurbishment, and bridging financing, savings products for individuals and corporates, hire purchase, lease, and loan related services.