Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 6,550 ($79.69).

AHT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 6,800 ($82.74) price target on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Monday, December 16th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 7,000 ($85.17) price target on shares of Ashtead Group in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ashtead Group from GBX 6,600 ($80.30) to GBX 7,300 ($88.82) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Ashtead Group Price Performance

Ashtead Group stock opened at GBX 5,324 ($64.78) on Friday. The stock has a market cap of £23.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,009.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 145.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 5,592.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 5,502.35. Ashtead Group has a 52 week low of GBX 4,759 ($57.90) and a 52 week high of GBX 6,448 ($78.45).

Ashtead Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Ashtead Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,018.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brendan Horgan acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 5,320 ($64.73) per share, for a total transaction of £212,800 ($258,912.28). 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ashtead Group

Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services.