Spectris (LON:SXS) Reaches New 52-Week Low After Insider Selling

Spectris plc (LON:SXS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as GBX 2,366 ($30.62) and last traded at GBX 2,380 ($30.81), with a volume of 22176 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,400 ($31.06).

Specifically, insider Derek Harding sold 22,577 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,420 ($31.32), for a total value of £546,363.40 ($707,174.99).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SXS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Spectris in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Spectris from GBX 3,180 ($41.16) to GBX 3,000 ($38.83) and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of GBX 3,765 ($48.73).

Spectris Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.37. The stock has a market cap of £2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 2,775.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 2,646.02.

Spectris (LON:SXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported GBX 148.10 ($1.92) earnings per share for the quarter. Spectris had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 20.13%. Equities analysts forecast that Spectris plc will post 194.7972456 earnings per share for the current year.

Spectris Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a GBX 56.60 ($0.73) dividend. This is a boost from Spectris’s previous dividend of $26.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a yield of 2.25%. Spectris’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.00%.

Spectris Company Profile

The experts in providing insight through precision measurement.

Our purpose is to deliver value beyond measure – going beyond just the measurement.

Precision is at the heart of what we do. Spectris provides global customers with specialist insight through our high-tech instruments and test equipment, augmented by the power of our software.

Through a combination of our hardware, analytical and simulation software, we provide our customers with superior data and invaluable insights that enable them to work faster, smarter and more efficiently.

This equips them with the ability to reduce time to market, improve processes, quality and yield.