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

Shares of SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 244.50.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “house stock” rating on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on SSP Group from GBX 310 to GBX 350 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 180 price objective on shares of SSP Group in a report on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 230 target price on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Apurvi Sheth purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 165 per share, with a total value of £6,600. Also, insider Karina Deacon purchased 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 171 per share, with a total value of £30,780. Insiders have acquired 227,675 shares of company stock valued at $38,884,478 over the last 90 days. 1.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SSP Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SSPG opened at GBX 192 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 179.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 168.87. SSP Group has a 52 week low of GBX 134.10 and a 52 week high of GBX 212.20. The firm has a market capitalization of £1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.65, a PEG ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.44.

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

SSP Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, October 9th that allows the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy 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.

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).