Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Balfour Beatty hit a new 52-week high of GBX 837 (last at GBX 834.84) on Friday with about 2,183,314 shares traded and the stock up roughly 1.7%.
• Berenberg upgraded the stock, raising its price target from GBX 800 to GBX 870 and issuing a "buy" rating; the consensus analyst rating is "Buy" with an average target of GBX 792.50.
• Two insiders sold a combined 230,958 shares at GBX 799 on April 8 for about £1.85m total; the company has a market cap of £4.02 billion, a P/E of 16.0, and reported quarterly EPS of GBX 47.60.

Balfour Beatty plc (LON:BBY - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as GBX 837 and last traded at GBX 834.84, with a volume of 2183314 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 818.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Balfour Beatty from GBX 800 to GBX 870 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 792.50.

Balfour Beatty Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 89.50. The stock has a market capitalization of £4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 764.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 716.62.

Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported GBX 47.60 EPS for the quarter. Balfour Beatty had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 23.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that Balfour Beatty plc will post 43.3100698 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Balfour Beatty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 11th that allows the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Philip Harrison sold 109,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 799, for a total transaction of £876,854.56. Also, insider Philip Hoare sold 121,214 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 799, for a total transaction of £968,499.86. 1.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees across the UK, US and Hong Kong, we're leading the transformation of our industry to meet the challenges of the future. Trusted by our customers to deliver sustainable solutions and strengthen communities, we finance, develop, build, maintain and operate the increasingly complex and critical infrastructure that supports national economies and deliver projects at the heart of local communities. Collaborating with governments, our customers and partners, we deliver powerful new solutions, shape thinking, create skylines and inspire a new generation of talent to be the change-makers of tomorrow.

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