JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) to Overweight

Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Digital Look reports. The brokerage currently has a GBX 450 target price on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior target price of GBX 440. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 410 to GBX 390 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 435 target price on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 440 target price on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 415 to GBX 480 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 425 price target on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 422.50.

Marks and Spencer Group Stock Performance

Shares of Marks and Spencer Group stock opened at GBX 396.60 on Tuesday. Marks and Spencer Group has a 12 month low of GBX 301.10 and a 12 month high of GBX 411.80. The firm has a market capitalization of £8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 111.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 365.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 361.05.

Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported GBX 23.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 1,727.36 billion for the quarter. Marks and Spencer Group had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 8.86%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marks and Spencer Group will post 26.0113154 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Marks and Spencer Group

In related news, insider Stuart Machin sold 560,402 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 384, for a total value of £2,151,943.68. Also, insider Alison Dolan sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 359, for a total transaction of £305,150. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Marks and Spencer Group Company Profile

M&S has a heritage of quality, innovation and value for money and has been voted the UK’s most trusted brand. From these foundations, M&S is reshaping for sustainable profitable growth and value creation.

We operate as a family of businesses, selling high-quality, great-value, own-brand products and services, alongside a carefully selected range of third-party brands. We do this through a network of stores and websites globally, and together, across our stores, support centres, warehouses and supply chain, our 65,000 colleagues serve over 30 million customers each year.