Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Intertek Group plc (LON:ITRK) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 48.72 ($0.63) and last traded at GBX 4,852 ($63.08), with a volume of 2645912 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,866 ($63.26).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Intertek Group from GBX 5,800 ($75.40) to GBX 6,000 ($78.00) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Intertek Group from GBX 5,400 ($70.20) to GBX 5,500 ($71.50) and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Shore Capital restated a “sell” rating on shares of Intertek Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 5,675 ($73.78).

Intertek Group Stock Up 0.5 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 5,074.33 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 4,909.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.83, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of £7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.63.

Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported GBX 242.60 ($3.15) earnings per share for the quarter. Intertek Group had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 23.46%. As a group, analysts forecast that Intertek Group plc will post 263.7305699 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Intertek Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a GBX 102.60 ($1.33) dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a yield of 2.11%. This is an increase from Intertek Group’s previous dividend of $53.90. Intertek Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intertek Group

In related news, insider Steven L. Mogford bought 121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 4,892 ($63.60) per share, for a total transaction of £5,919.32 ($7,695.42). Also, insider Andre Lacroix sold 39,498 shares of Intertek Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,994 ($64.92), for a total transaction of £1,972,530.12 ($2,564,391.73). Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Intertek Group Company Profile

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide.

Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers’ operations and supply chains.

Intertek is a purpose-led company to Bring Quality, Safety and Sustainability to Life.