Kier Group (LON:KIE) Trading 6.6% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Kier Group's stock price increased by 6.6%, closing at GBX 204.69 ($2.79) after reaching a high of GBX 211 ($2.88) during mid-day trading.
• Berenberg Bank raised its target price for Kier Group from GBX 210 to GBX 225 and assigned a "buy" rating, contributing to the consensus "buy" rating for the stock.
• The company reported earnings of GBX 21.60 per share in its last quarterly results, with analysts forecasting a total EPS of approximately 20.49 for the current year.

Kier Group plc (LON:KIE - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 6.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 211 ($2.84) and last traded at GBX 204.69 ($2.76). Approximately 3,934,629 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the average daily volume of 2,610,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 192 ($2.59).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Kier Group from GBX 225 to GBX 240 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Kier Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of GBX 240.

Kier Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 302.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of £924.23 million, a P/E ratio of 2,236.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is GBX 199.44 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 170.57.

Kier Group (LON:KIE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 16th. The company reported GBX 21.60 EPS for the quarter. Kier Group had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 8.23%. Analysts anticipate that Kier Group plc will post 20.4913295 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kier Group

In other Kier Group news, insider Simon Kesterton sold 350,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 204, for a total transaction of £714,000. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

About Kier Group

Kier Group is a leading infrastructure services, construction and property group based in the UK. Our purpose is to sustainably deliver infrastructure which is vital to the UK with a vision is to be the UK's leading infrastructure services and construction company. We operate through three segments; Infrastructure Services, Construction and Property.