Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported GBX 77.20 ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. Ashtead Group had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 21.43%.

Ashtead Group Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of LON AHT opened at GBX 4,514 ($57.36) on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 146.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.31. Ashtead Group has a 52-week low of GBX 4,502 ($57.21) and a 52-week high of GBX 6,448 ($81.94). The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 5,054.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 5,460.09. The stock has a market cap of £24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22.

Ashtead Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 9th. Ashtead Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashtead Group

In other news, insider Brendan Horgan acquired 4,000 shares of Ashtead Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 5,320 ($67.61) per share, with a total value of £212,800 ($270,428.26). Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AHT. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 6,800 ($86.42) target price on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Monday, December 16th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 7,000 ($88.96) price objective on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ashtead Group from GBX 6,600 ($83.87) to GBX 7,300 ($92.77) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 6,550 ($83.24).

Ashtead Group Company Profile

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.