H&T Group (LON:HAT) Stock Price Up 39.7% - Here's Why

H&T Group plc (LON:HAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 39.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 646 ($8.58) and last traded at GBX 640.02 ($8.50). 618,828 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 473% from the average session volume of 107,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 458 ($6.08).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HAT. Shore Capital reissued a "house stock" rating on shares of H&T Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of H&T Group from GBX 531 ($7.05) to GBX 559 ($7.43) and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

H&T Group Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 408.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 372.69. The company has a market capitalization of £281.34 million, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 46.82, a current ratio of 15.96 and a quick ratio of 4.55.

H&T Group (LON:HAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 51.17 ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter. H&T Group had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 12.14%. On average, research analysts predict that H&T Group plc will post 54.3859649 EPS for the current year.

H&T Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a GBX 11 ($0.15) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This is a positive change from H&T Group's previous dividend of $7.00. This represents a yield of 2.84%. H&T Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.61%.

About H&T Group

We are the UK's largest pawnbroker and a leading retailer of high quality new and pre-owned jewellery and watches. We provide a range of transparent and accessible financial products tailored for a customer base which has limited access to, or is excluded from, the traditional banking sector. Our vision is to make pawnbroking a more widely accepted and valued financial service by ensuring that borrowing against an asset is simple, inclusive and transparent.