Brokerages Set Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) PT at GBX 6,550

Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 6,550 ($80.90).

AHT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 6,800 ($83.99) price objective on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Monday, December 16th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 7,000 ($86.46) price target on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ashtead Group from GBX 6,600 ($81.52) to GBX 7,300 ($90.17) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brendan Horgan purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 5,320 ($65.71) per share, with a total value of £212,800 ($262,845.85). 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ashtead Group Price Performance

Shares of AHT stock opened at GBX 5,492 ($67.84) on Friday. Ashtead Group has a 52 week low of GBX 4,807 ($59.38) and a 52 week high of GBX 6,448 ($79.64). The stock has a market capitalization of £23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 2,072.45, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 5,524.06 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 5,503.98.

Ashtead Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Ashtead Group’s payout ratio is 3,018.87%.

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.