Intertek Group (LON:ITRK) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Intertek hit a new 52-week high, trading intraday as high as GBX 5,160 and last at GBX 4,995 on volume of about 1.78M shares (previous close GBX 4,894).
• Analysts hold a consensus Moderate Buy (three Buy, three Hold) with an average target of GBX 5,124.50 and broker targets ranging roughly GBX 4,800–5,717.
• Key fundamentals: market cap £7.61bn, P/E 22.96, ROE 31.07% and net margin 10.01%, but the company has high leverage with a debt-to-equity ratio of 152.20.

Intertek Group plc (LON:ITRK - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 5,160 and last traded at GBX 4,995, with a volume of 1775190 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,894.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ITRK. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a GBX 4,800 price objective on shares of Intertek Group in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Intertek Group from GBX 5,847 to GBX 5,717 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 5,030 target price on shares of Intertek Group in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intertek Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 5,124.50.

Intertek Group Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a market cap of £7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 4,091.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 4,496. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 152.20.

Intertek Group (LON:ITRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 255.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Intertek Group had a return on equity of 31.07% and a net margin of 10.01%. Equities analysts forecast that Intertek Group plc will post 263.7305699 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intertek Group news, insider Tamara Ingram acquired 151 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 3,794 per share, for a total transaction of £5,728.94. Also, insider Graham Allan acquired 156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 3,794 per share, for a total transaction of £5,918.64. Insiders have bought a total of 4,479 shares of company stock valued at $17,624,681 in the last ninety days. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Intertek Group

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers' operations and supply chains. Intertek is a purpose-led company to Bring Quality, Safety and Sustainability to Life. We provide 24/7 mission-critical quality assurance solutions to our clients to ensure that they can operate with well-functioning supply chains in each of their operations. Our Customer Promise is: Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently, with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.

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