Diageo (LON:DGE) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Diageo (LON:DGE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a GBX 2,800 ($35.73) price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.42% from the stock’s previous close.

DGE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 3,200 ($40.83) target price on shares of Diageo in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Diageo to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from GBX 2,100 ($26.80) to GBX 2,400 ($30.62) in a report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 3,008 ($38.38).

Diageo Stock Performance

Diageo stock traded down GBX 2.61 ($0.03) during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting GBX 2,425.89 ($30.95). 78,403,844 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,969,160. Diageo has a fifty-two week low of GBX 2,165.60 ($27.63) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 3,056 ($38.99). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 186.26, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of £53.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,837.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 2,483.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,522.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Diageo news, insider Javier Ferrán bought 339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 2,444 ($31.19) per share, for a total transaction of £8,285.16 ($10,571.85). Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,015 shares of company stock worth $2,475,760. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

About Diageo

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. It offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavoured malt beverages. The company also provides Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as ready to drink and non-alcoholic products.