Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Intertek Group plc (LON:ITRK) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 48.72 ($0.63) and last traded at GBX 4,852 ($62.91), with a volume of 2645912 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,866 ($63.10).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ITRK shares. Shore Capital restated a “sell” rating on shares of Intertek Group in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Intertek Group from GBX 5,800 ($75.21) to GBX 6,000 ($77.80) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Intertek Group from GBX 5,400 ($70.02) to GBX 5,500 ($71.32) and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 5,675 ($73.59).

Intertek Group Trading Down 0.5 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 5,077.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 4,911.17. The stock has a market cap of £7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.83.

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

Intertek Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Intertek Group

In other Intertek Group news, insider Andre Lacroix sold 39,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,994 ($64.76), for a total transaction of £1,972,530.12 ($2,557,741.34). Also, insider Steven L. Mogford bought 121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,892 ($63.43) per share, for a total transaction of £5,919.32 ($7,675.47). Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

About Intertek Group

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.