3i Group (LON:III) Trading Down 16.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Share price plunged 16.1% intraday after Citigroup cut its price target to GBX 4,280 (while keeping a buy rating); the stock traded as low as GBX 2,318 on volume ~33.4M shares, up 28% vs. average.
• Analyst views are mixed but skew positive: four buys and one sell give an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of GBX 3,870, though RBC recently downgraded the stock to "underperform."
• Insider buying: CEO Simon Borrows purchased 30,000 shares at GBX 3,490, and company insiders now own 2.08% of the stock, signaling management confidence despite the share drop.

3i Group (LON:III - Get Free Report) was down 16.1% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from GBX 4,750 to GBX 4,280. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. 3i Group traded as low as GBX 2,318 and last traded at GBX 2,343. Approximately 33,405,574 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 26,145,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,792.

A number of other research firms have also commented on III. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 4,000 price objective on shares of 3i Group in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of 3i Group to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from GBX 3,250 to GBX 3,000 in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of 3i Group from GBX 4,300 to GBX 4,200 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 3,870.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Simon Borrows purchased 30,000 shares of 3i Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 3,490 per share, for a total transaction of £1,047,000. Insiders have purchased a total of 30,009 shares of company stock valued at $104,729,139 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.08% of the company's stock.

3i Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 5.32, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is GBX 3,177.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 3,522.11. The firm has a market cap of £23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.53, a P/E/G ratio of -0.35 and a beta of 1.02.

About 3i Group

3i is an investment company specialising in Private Equity and Infrastructure. We invest in mid-market companies headquartered in Europe and North America. We generate attractive returns for our shareholders and co-investors by investing in private equity and infrastructure assets. As proprietary capital investors we have a long-term, responsible approach. We aim to compound value through thoughtful origination, disciplined investment and active management of our assets, driving sustainable growth in our investment companies.

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