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

Key Points

• Costain Group's stock fell by 17.1% on Thursday, trading down to GBX 135.40 ($1.82) with unusually high trading volume of over 12 million shares.
• Analysts from Deutsche Bank and Berenberg Bank have changed their price targets for the stock, with Berenberg rating it as a "buy" and raising the price objective to GBX 175.
• In the past quarter, insiders sold 612,435 shares of Costain Group stock, valued at approximately $87.56 million, which may raise concerns about insider sentiment toward the company's future performance.

Costain Group PLC (LON:COST - Get Free Report) was down 17.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 134 ($1.80) and last traded at GBX 135.40 ($1.82). Approximately 12,026,422 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 739% from the average daily volume of 1,433,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 163.40 ($2.20).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Costain Group from GBX 115 to GBX 150 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Berenberg Bank boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costain Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 162.50.

Costain Group Stock Down 1.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 152.87 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 126.07. The firm has a market cap of £347.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86.

Costain Group (LON:COST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analysts forecast that Costain Group PLC will post 13.7551582 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alex Vaughan sold 241,639 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 144, for a total transaction of £347,960.16. Also, insider Kate Rock acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 138 per share, with a total value of £13,800. Insiders sold a total of 612,435 shares of company stock valued at $87,561,906 in the last 90 days. 6.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Costain Group

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.