Forterra (LON:FORT) Trading Up 11% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Forterra plc shares surged 11% following an upgrade from Citigroup, raising its price target from GBX 176 to GBX 210, while maintaining a neutral rating on the stock.
• Other analysts, including the Royal Bank of Canada, also increased their price targets, with a consensus target price of GBX 228 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Forterra reported a quarterly EPS of GBX 5.80 and has a market cap of £420 million, reflecting stable fundamentals with a P/E ratio of 53.31.

Forterra plc (LON:FORT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 11% during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from GBX 176 to GBX 210. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Forterra traded as high as GBX 215 ($2.85) and last traded at GBX 204 ($2.71). 4,258,317 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 385% from the average session volume of 878,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 183.80 ($2.44).

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FORT. Peel Hunt reaffirmed an "add" rating and issued a GBX 190 ($2.52) price objective on shares of Forterra in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Forterra from GBX 220 ($2.92) to GBX 250 ($3.32) and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forterra presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 228 ($3.03).

Forterra Stock Down 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is GBX 194.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 177.55. The stock has a market capitalization of £405.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.25.

Forterra (LON:FORT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported GBX 5.80 ($0.08) EPS for the quarter. Forterra had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 3.76%. Equities analysts expect that Forterra plc will post 11.9888346 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Forterra Company Profile

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.