Costain Group (LON:COST) Trading Down 17.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Costain Group PLC shares experienced a significant decline of 17.1% on Thursday, with trading volumes increasing by 739% compared to the average.
• Analysts have mixed views with Deutsche Bank raising the price target to GBX 150 and assigning a "hold" rating, while Berenberg Bank set a target of GBX 175 with a "buy" rating.
• Insider selling has been notable, with insiders unloading over 612,000 shares, indicating potential concerns about the stock's future performance.

Costain Group PLC (LON:COST - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 17.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 134 ($1.81) and last traded at GBX 135.40 ($1.83). 12,026,422 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 739% from the average session volume of 1,433,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 163.40 ($2.21).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on COST. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Costain Group from GBX 150 to GBX 175 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Costain Group from GBX 115 to GBX 150 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 162.50.

Costain Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86. The business's 50 day moving average is GBX 153.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 125.85. The company has a market cap of £351.42 million, a PE ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 2.64.

Costain Group (LON:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported GBX 5.50 earnings per share for the quarter. Costain Group had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 13.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costain Group PLC will post 13.7551582 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Costain Group

In other Costain Group news, insider Alex Vaughan sold 241,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 144, for a total value of £347,960.16. Also, insider Helen Willis sold 100,082 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 142, for a total transaction of £142,116.44. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 612,435 shares of company stock worth $87,561,906. 6.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costain Group Company Profile

Costain helps to improve people's lives by creating connected, sustainable infrastructure that enables people and the planet thrive. We shape, create and deliver pioneering solutions that transform the performance of the infrastructure ecosystem across the UK's energy, water, transportation and defence markets.