Shore Capital Upgrades Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) to Hold

Shore Capital upgraded shares of Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Separately, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Intertek Group from GBX 5,800 ($74.11) to GBX 6,000 ($76.67) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 5,675 ($72.51).

Intertek Group Stock Up 2.5 %

LON ITRK opened at GBX 4,311.12 ($55.09) on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of £6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.63. Intertek Group has a 12 month low of GBX 4,176 ($53.36) and a 12 month high of GBX 5,575 ($71.24). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.83, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 5,037.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 4,898.52.

Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported GBX 242.60 ($3.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Intertek Group had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. Equities research analysts expect that Intertek Group will post 263.7305699 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intertek Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of GBX 102.60 ($1.31) per share. This represents a yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from Intertek Group’s previous dividend of $53.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. Intertek Group’s payout ratio is presently 66.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intertek Group

In related news, insider Steven L. Mogford acquired 121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 4,892 ($62.51) per share, for a total transaction of £5,919.32 ($7,563.66). Also, insider Andre Lacroix sold 39,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 4,994 ($63.81), for a total transaction of £1,972,530.12 ($2,520,483.16). Company 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.