Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Phoenix Group Holdings plc (LON:PHNX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 645 ($8.68) and last traded at GBX 644 ($8.67), with a volume of 14224298 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 634 ($8.53).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 650 ($8.75) target price on shares of Phoenix Group in a research report on Monday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Phoenix Group from GBX 500 ($6.73) to GBX 565 ($7.60) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th.

Phoenix Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 586.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 539.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 160.32. The stock has a market capitalization of £6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.73.

Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 45.40 ($0.61) EPS for the quarter. Phoenix Group had a negative return on equity of 21.76% and a negative net margin of 2.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Phoenix Group Holdings plc will post 51.179941 earnings per share for the current year.

Phoenix Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of GBX 27.35 ($0.37) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.66%. This is an increase from Phoenix Group’s previous dividend of $26.65. Phoenix Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Briggs sold 151,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 582 ($7.83), for a total value of £882,230.52 ($1,187,389.66). Company insiders own 14.96% of the company’s stock.

Phoenix Group Company Profile

Phoenix is the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business with c. £300 billion of assets under administration and c. 12 million customers.
We are a constituent of the FTSE 100 with c. 7,800 colleagues and offer a broad range of products to support people across all stages of the savings life cycle.
We are a growing and sustainable business with a clear purpose – helping people secure a life of possibilities.