Essentra (LON:ESNT) Shares Pass Below 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Essentra plc (LON:ESNT) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 94.81 and traded as low as GBX 86.20. Essentra shares last traded at GBX 88.60, with a volume of 317,287 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ESNT. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 130 price target on shares of Essentra in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Essentra to GBX 130 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 160 price target on shares of Essentra in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a GBX 100 price target on shares of Essentra in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 150.

Essentra Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 86.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 94.81. The firm has a market cap of £250.70 million, a PE ratio of 126.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 47.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Essentra (LON:ESNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported GBX 6.10 earnings per share for the quarter. Essentra had a return on equity of 0.79% and a net margin of 0.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essentra plc will post 524.137931 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rowan Baker acquired 10,977 shares of Essentra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 91 per share, for a total transaction of £9,989.07. Also, insider Steve Good acquired 40,000 shares of Essentra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 93 per share, with a total value of £37,200. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 91,194 shares of company stock worth $8,208,359. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

About Essentra

Essentra plc is a leading global provider of essential components and solutions, focusing on the manufacture and distribution of plastic injection moulded, vinyl dip moulded and metal items.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Essentra’s global network extends to 28 countries worldwide and includes c.3,000 employees, 14 manufacturing facilities, 26 distribution centres and 37 sales & service centres serving c.64,000 customers with a rapid supply of low cost but essential products for a variety of applications in industries such as equipment manufacturing, automotive, fabrication, electronics, medical and renewable energy.