Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) Stock: Insider Bill Hocking Sells 250,000 Shares

Key Points

• Insider selling: Galliford Try director Bill Hocking sold 250,000 shares at GBX 672 each, worth approximately £1.68 million. He previously sold 21,838 shares in September for about £152,429.
• Stock performance: Shares fell GBX 11 to GBX 673, with unusually high trading volume of more than 10.6 million shares. The stock has traded between GBX 466 and GBX 726.81 over the past year.
• Analyst outlook: Berenberg raised its price target from GBX 680 to GBX 750 and maintained a “Buy” rating; analysts overall also rate the stock “Buy,” though the consensus target is GBX 650.

Galliford Try Holdings plc (LON:GFRD - Get Free Report) insider Bill Hocking sold 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 672, for a total transaction of £1,680,000.

Bill Hocking also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 29th, Bill Hocking sold 21,838 shares of Galliford Try stock. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 698, for a total value of £152,429.24.

Galliford Try Price Performance

Shares of LON GFRD traded down GBX 11 during trading on Thursday, reaching GBX 673. The company had a trading volume of 10,606,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,963. Galliford Try Holdings plc has a twelve month low of GBX 466 and a twelve month high of GBX 726.81. The stock has a market capitalization of £664.41 million, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 640.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 572.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.36.

Galliford Try (LON:GFRD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 17th. The company reported GBX 41.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Galliford Try had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Galliford Try Holdings plc will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Galliford Try declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 17th that permits the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Galliford Try from GBX 680 to GBX 750 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 650.

Galliford Try Company Profile

Galliford Try is one of the UK's leading construction groups, working to improve the UK's built environment, delivering positive, lasting change for the communities we work in on behalf of our clients. Our business operates mainly under the Galliford Try and Morrison Construction brands, focusing on areas where we have core and proven strengths, namely in Building, Highways and Environment. We see long-term growth and appropriate margins in these markets. Our company is founded on our values of excellence, passion, integrity and collaboration, and our vision is to be a people-orientated, progressive business, driven by our values to deliver lasting change for our stakeholders and the communities we work in.

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