Essentra (LON:ESNT) Trading Up 6% – Should You Buy?

Essentra plc (LON:ESNT)’s share price was up 6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 87.30 and last traded at GBX 86.90. Approximately 13,863,217 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 426% from the average daily volume of 2,636,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Essentra to GBX 130 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 160 price target on shares of Essentra in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 130 price target on shares of Essentra in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 100 price target on shares of Essentra in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essentra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 150.

Essentra Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 87.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 95.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 47.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of £247.29 million, a P/E ratio of 124.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.80.

Essentra (LON:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported GBX 6.10 earnings per share for the quarter. Essentra had a net margin of 0.70% and a return on equity of 0.79%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essentra plc will post 524.137931 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Essentra

In related news, insider Scott Fawcett sold 21,279 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 90, for a total value of £19,151.10. Also, insider Rowan Baker acquired 10,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 91 per share, with a total value of £9,989.07. Insiders acquired 91,194 shares of company stock worth $8,208,359 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essentra Company Profile

Essentra plc is a leading global provider of essential components and solutions, focusing on the manufacture and distribution of plastic injection moulded, vinyl dip moulded and metal items.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Essentra’s global network extends to 28 countries worldwide and includes c.3,000 employees, 14 manufacturing facilities, 26 distribution centres and 37 sales & service centres serving c.64,000 customers with a rapid supply of low cost but essential products for a variety of applications in industries such as equipment manufacturing, automotive, fabrication, electronics, medical and renewable energy.