Croda International Plc (LON:CRDA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Six brokerages give Croda a consensus rating of Moderate Buy (three buy, three hold) with an average 12‑month price target of GBX 3,140.
• Analyst activity is mixed: Deutsche Bank cut its target to GBX 3,000 and maintained a hold, while Morgan Stanley upgraded Croda to overweight and raised its target to GBX 3,350.
• Insiders traded recently—Tom Brophy sold 1,020 shares at GBX 2,652 and Danuta Gray bought 750 shares at GBX 2,788—and the stock opened at GBX 2,858 (up ~4.2%) with a market cap of £3.99bn and a P/E of 64.37.

Shares of Croda International Plc (LON:CRDA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 3,140.

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRDA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Croda International from GBX 3,100 to GBX 3,000 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Croda International to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from GBX 3,280 to GBX 3,350 in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tom Brophy sold 1,020 shares of Croda International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,652, for a total value of £27,050.40. Also, insider Danuta Gray bought 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,788 per share, for a total transaction of £20,910. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 766 shares of company stock worth $2,136,858. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Croda International Stock Up 4.2%

LON:CRDA opened at GBX 2,858 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.76, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of £3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.96. Croda International has a fifty-two week low of GBX 2,426.77 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 3,312. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 2,841.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,779.23.

Croda International (LON:CRDA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported GBX 146.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Croda International had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 2.82%. Analysts predict that Croda International will post 181.8307268 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Croda International

Founded in 1925 with the aim of turning bio-based raw materials into innovative ingredients, Croda International is a speciality chemicals company focused on consumer care and life sciences markets. The company is focused on creating, making and selling innovative ingredients that deliver real benefits to a diverse range of customers and employs more than 6,000 people around the world. Sustainability is a core part of the Groups strategy with a commitment to be Climate, Land and People positive by 2030.

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