Crest Nicholson (LON:CRST) Shares Up 7.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Crest Nicholson Holdings plc (LON:CRST) were up 7.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 165.90 ($2.14) and last traded at GBX 163.20 ($2.11). Approximately 29,522,041 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1,090% from the average daily volume of 2,480,464 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 152.20 ($1.97).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Crest Nicholson to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from GBX 180 ($2.32) to GBX 190 ($2.45) in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Crest Nicholson Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.94, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 164.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 171.59. The stock has a market cap of £428.33 million, a P/E ratio of -16.08, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.00.

Crest Nicholson (LON:CRST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported GBX 5.60 ($0.07) EPS for the quarter. Crest Nicholson had a negative return on equity of 3.47% and a negative net margin of 4.21%. On average, analysts expect that Crest Nicholson Holdings plc will post 9.0980939 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crest Nicholson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a GBX 1.20 ($0.02) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 27th. This is an increase from Crest Nicholson’s previous dividend of $1.00. Crest Nicholson’s payout ratio is currently -125.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crest Nicholson news, insider William Floydd purchased 11,024 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 157 ($2.03) per share, for a total transaction of £17,307.68 ($22,346.91). 9.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Crest Nicholson

Crest Nicholson Holdings plc engages in building residential homes in the United Kingdom. It develops and sells apartments, houses, and commercial properties. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Addlestone, the United Kingdom.