United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,431.43.

UU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of United Utilities Group from GBX 1,300 to GBX 1,450 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 1,320 target price on shares of United Utilities Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of United Utilities Group to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,550 in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of United Utilities Group from £152.50 to GBX 1,340 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of United Utilities Group from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,550 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th.

United Utilities Group Price Performance

Shares of UU stock opened at GBX 1,368 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 1,328.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 1,319.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 512.65. The stock has a market cap of £9.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.58.

United Utilities Group (LON:UU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported GBX 107.10 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of GBX 261.63 billion during the quarter. United Utilities Group had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 22.43%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Utilities Group will post 50.9730539 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Utilities Group

In related news, insider Phil Aspin sold 24,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,306, for a total value of £320,831.96. Insiders have acquired 38 shares of company stock worth $51,768 over the last 90 days. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Utilities Group Company Profile

United Utilities Group PLC provides water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom. It is involved in the renewable energy generation, corporate trustee, financing, and property management activities; and provision of consulting, and project management services. The company operates 43,000 kilometers of water pipes; and 79,000 kilometers of wastewater pipes. United Utilities Group PLC was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Warrington, the United Kingdom.