Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Paragon Banking Group PLC (LON:PAG) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 870.35 and traded as high as GBX 907. Paragon Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 900, with a volume of 380,677 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Paragon Banking Group from GBX 975 to GBX 1,050 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Shore Capital upgraded Paragon Banking Group to a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,000 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,020 target price on shares of Paragon Banking Group in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 1,017.20.

Paragon Banking Group Trading Up 0.5%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 851.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 870.35. The firm has a market cap of £1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.52.

Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The company reported GBX 91.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Paragon Banking Group had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 25.14%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paragon Banking Group PLC will post 104.0245566 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paragon Banking Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paragon Banking Group

In other Paragon Banking Group news, insider Nigel S. Terrington purchased 30,280 shares of Paragon Banking Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 785 per share, for a total transaction of £237,698. Also, insider Richard Woodman purchased 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 808 per share, for a total transaction of £121,200. Insiders have bought a total of 63,716 shares of company stock worth $50,362,060 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Paragon Banking Group Company Profile

Paragon is a specialist banking group. It offers a range of savings accounts and provide finance for landlords and small
and medium-sized businesses (‘SMEs’) and residential property developers in the UK. Founded in 1985 and listed on the
London Stock Exchange, it is a FTSE-250 company. Headquartered in Solihull, it employs more than 1,400 people.
Its operations are organised into two lending divisions and lending is funded largely by retail deposits.