Spectris (LON:SXS) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Insider Selling

Spectris plc (LON:SXS) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as GBX 2,366 ($30.62) and last traded at GBX 2,380 ($30.81), with a volume of 22176 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,400 ($31.06).

Specifically, insider Derek Harding sold 22,577 shares of Spectris stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,420 ($31.32), for a total transaction of £546,363.40 ($707,174.99).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SXS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Spectris from GBX 3,180 ($41.16) to GBX 3,000 ($38.83) and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Spectris in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Spectris currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of GBX 3,765 ($48.73).

Spectris Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.37. The stock has a market capitalization of £2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 2,775.03 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 2,646.02.

Spectris (LON:SXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported GBX 148.10 ($1.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Spectris had a return on equity of 20.13% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Spectris plc will post 194.7972456 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spectris Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a GBX 56.60 ($0.73) dividend. This is a boost from Spectris’s previous dividend of $26.60. This represents a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Spectris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.00%.

Spectris Company Profile

The experts in providing insight through precision measurement.

Our purpose is to deliver value beyond measure – going beyond just the measurement.

Precision is at the heart of what we do. Spectris provides global customers with specialist insight through our high-tech instruments and test equipment, augmented by the power of our software.

Through a combination of our hardware, analytical and simulation software, we provide our customers with superior data and invaluable insights that enable them to work faster, smarter and more efficiently.

This equips them with the ability to reduce time to market, improve processes, quality and yield.