SSP Group (LON:SSPG) Stock Price Up 14.7% After Dividend Announcement

SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG)’s stock price was up 14.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as GBX 172.40 and last traded at GBX 169.81. Approximately 8,784,259 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 157% from the average daily volume of 3,422,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 148.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SSPG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SSP Group from GBX 190 to GBX 170 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 190 target price on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 275 price target on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 310 price target (down from GBX 330) on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 232.83.

SSP Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 156.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 162.71. The company has a market cap of £1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.63, a PEG ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88.

SSP Group (LON:SSPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported GBX 11 EPS for the quarter. SSP Group had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 0.24%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SSP Group plc will post 13.1004016 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SSP Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 9th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick Coveney bought 149,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 168 per share, for a total transaction of £251,443.92. Also, insider Karina Deacon purchased 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 171 per share, for a total transaction of £30,780. Insiders acquired a total of 186,751 shares of company stock valued at $31,474,856 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

SSP Group Company Profile

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.37,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 36 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of more than 550 international, national and local brands.