Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) Shares Up 29% – Should You Buy?

Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT)’s stock price was up 29% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 1,888 ($25.34) and last traded at GBX 1,792.32 ($24.06). Approximately 3,427,063 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 2,743,881 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,389 ($18.64).

Johnson Matthey Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a market cap of £2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 49,242.50 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 1,302.20 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 1,375.09.

Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported GBX 149.20 ($2.00) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson Matthey had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 0.84%. Sell-side analysts predict that Johnson Matthey PLC will post 173.4112903 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Matthey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a GBX 32 ($0.43) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Johnson Matthey’s previous dividend of $22.00. Johnson Matthey’s payout ratio is presently 130.84%.

Insider Activity at Johnson Matthey

In related news, insider Liam Condon acquired 30 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 1,200 ($16.11) per share, for a total transaction of £360 ($483.22). Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 75 shares of company stock worth $99,927. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson Matthey

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.