Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 2,400 and last traded at GBX 2,388, with a volume of 150974 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,384.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,200 to GBX 2,420 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Berenberg Bank reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,100 to GBX 2,050 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,370 target price on shares of Johnson Matthey in a report on Monday, November 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,300 to GBX 2,400 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Johnson Matthey from GBX 1,800 to GBX 2,100 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 2,268.

Johnson Matthey Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.73, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of £3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -35.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 49,242.50 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 2,176.68 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 2,040.54.

Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported GBX 51.20 earnings per share for the quarter. Johnson Matthey had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 0.84%. Research analysts forecast that Johnson Matthey PLC will post 173.4112903 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alastair Judge bought 12 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,321 per share, with a total value of £278.52. Also, insider Liam Condon purchased 14 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,013 per share, for a total transaction of £281.82. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 46 shares of company stock worth $100,894. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Matthey Company Profile

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, they improve the function, performance and safety of their customers’ products. Their science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with their network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.