Forterra (LON:FORT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Forterra plc (LON:FORT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 200.50 ($2.70) and last traded at GBX 196 ($2.64), with a volume of 767078 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 198 ($2.66).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Forterra from GBX 260 ($3.50) to GBX 320 ($4.31) and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Berenberg Bank restated a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 170 ($2.29) price objective on shares of Forterra in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Forterra from GBX 210 ($2.83) to GBX 220 ($2.96) and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th.

Forterra Trading Up 0.6%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 180.63 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 170.72. The company has a market capitalization of £405.01 million, a PE ratio of 51.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.58, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Forterra (LON:FORT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The company reported GBX 7.60 ($0.10) EPS for the quarter. Forterra had a return on equity of 3.76% and a net margin of 2.46%. Analysts expect that Forterra plc will post 11.9888346 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Forterra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of GBX 2 ($0.03) per share. This represents a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Forterra's previous dividend of $1.00. Forterra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Forterra

In related news, insider Katherine Innes purchased 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 173 ($2.33) per share, with a total value of £4,498 ($6,052.21). Also, insider Ben Guyatt sold 37,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 157 ($2.11), for a total value of £59,066.54 ($79,475.97). 6.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Forterra

Forterra is a leading UK manufacturer of essential clay and concrete building products, with a unique combination of strong market positions in clay bricks, concrete blocks and precast concrete flooring. Our heritage dates back many decades and the durability, longevity and inherent sustainability of our products is evident in the construction of buildings that last for generations; wherever you are in Britain, you won't be far from a building with a Forterra product within its fabric. Our clay brick business combines our extensive secure mineral reserves with modern and efficient high-volume manufacturing processes to produce large quantities of extruded and soft mud bricks, primarily for the new build housing market.