Berenberg Bank Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Smiths Group (LON:SMIN)

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Berenberg Bank in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a GBX 2,750 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.52% from the stock’s previous close.

SMIN has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Smiths Group in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Panmure Gordon restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,870 price target on shares of Smiths Group in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smiths Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 2,810.

Smiths Group Trading Up 0.2%

LON SMIN opened at GBX 2,444 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of £7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.66. Smiths Group has a 52 week low of GBX 1,671 and a 52 week high of GBX 2,561. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 2,432.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 2,330.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.55, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported GBX 85.70 earnings per share for the quarter. Smiths Group had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 7.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Smiths Group will post 85.1295337 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smiths Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Roland Carter sold 29,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,421, for a total value of £709,667.73. Also, insider Richard Howes purchased 70 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,522 per share, for a total transaction of £1,765.40. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Smiths Group Company Profile

Smiths Group plc operates as an industrial engineering company in Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four businesses: John Crane, Smiths Detection, Flex-Tek, and Smiths Interconnect. The John Crane business engineers mechanical seals, seal support systems, power transmission couplings, and specialized filtration systems.