Brokerages Set Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) PT at GBX 6,550

Shares of Ashtead Group plc (LON:AHT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 6,840 ($88.70).

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AHT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ashtead Group from GBX 6,600 ($85.59) to GBX 7,300 ($94.67) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 7,000 ($90.78) price target on shares of Ashtead Group in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 6,800 ($88.19) price target on shares of Ashtead Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Ashtead Group Price Performance

AHT opened at GBX 4,319 ($56.01) on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 4,981.81 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 5,423.51. Ashtead Group has a 12-month low of GBX 4,281 ($55.52) and a 12-month high of GBX 6,448 ($83.62). The firm has a market cap of £23.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 146.30.

Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported GBX 77.20 ($1.00) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ashtead Group had a net margin of 14.08% and a return on equity of 21.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ashtead Group will post 363.5658915 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashtead Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 9th. This represents a yield of 0.45%. Ashtead Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.47%.

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.