SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 229.50.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SSPG shares. Shore Capital restated a “house stock” rating on shares of SSP Group in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Peel Hunt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 275 price objective on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 310 price objective (down previously from GBX 330) on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of SSP Group from GBX 190 to GBX 170 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th.

SSP Group Price Performance

Shares of SSPG opened at GBX 204.20 on Friday. SSP Group has a 1-year low of GBX 134.10 and a 1-year high of GBX 212.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 165.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 165.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29. The firm has a market cap of £1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -68.07, a P/E/G 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, equities analysts anticipate that SSP Group will post 13.1004016 EPS for the current year.

SSP Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 9th that allows the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SSP Group

In related news, insider Geert Verellen purchased 41,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 181 per share, with a total value of £74,220.86. Also, insider Tim Lodge acquired 15,000 shares of SSP Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 172 per share, with a total value of £25,800. Insiders bought a total of 227,675 shares of company stock worth $38,884,478 over the last ninety days. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About SSP Group

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. These include our own brands (such as UrbanCrave, which brought the first “street eats” concept to airports in the US, Nippon Ramen, a noodle and dumpling concept in the Asia Pac region, and Juniper, a premium bar in the UK) as well as franchise brands (such as M&S, Starbucks and Burger King).