Costain Group (LON:COST) Stock Price Down 17.1% - Should You Sell?

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.

Shares of Costain Group PLC (LON:COST - Get Free Report) dropped 17.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 134 ($1.81) and last traded at GBX 135.40 ($1.83). 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 ($2.21).

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Costain Group from GBX 150 to GBX 175 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Costain Group from GBX 115 to GBX 150 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costain Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 162.50.

Costain Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 153.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 125.67. The company has a market cap of £351.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86.

Costain Group (LON:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported GBX 5.50 EPS for the quarter. Costain Group had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 2.33%. As a group, analysts predict that Costain Group PLC will post 13.7551582 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costain Group news, insider Alex Vaughan sold 241,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 Costain Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 138 per share, for a total transaction of £13,800. Insiders have sold a total of 612,435 shares of company stock worth $87,561,906 over the last quarter. 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.