Spectris plc (LON:SXS) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Spectris plc (LON:SXS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 6,444 ($81.56).

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SXS shares. Berenberg Bank cut their price target on shares of Spectris from GBX 3,780 ($47.84) to GBX 3,520 ($44.55) and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Spectris to a "sell" rating and set a GBX 8,500 ($107.58) price target for the company. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Shore Capital lowered Spectris to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Numis Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 4,435 ($56.13) target price on shares of Spectris in a report on Thursday.

Spectris Stock Performance

LON SXS traded up GBX 36 ($0.46) during trading on Thursday, reaching GBX 3,258 ($41.24). The company's stock had a trading volume of 246,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,009. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 3,438.75 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 3,426.42. Spectris has a 12 month low of GBX 2,917 ($36.92) and a 12 month high of GBX 3,883.85 ($49.16). The firm has a market capitalization of £3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,327.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.76.

Spectris Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of GBX 53.90 ($0.68) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a yield of 1.49%. This is a boost from Spectris's previous dividend of $25.30. Spectris's dividend payout ratio is 5,642.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Spectris news, insider Derek Harding sold 1,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 3,201 ($40.51), for a total transaction of £61,107.09 ($77,340.96). 1.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Spectris Company Profile

Spectris plc provides precision measurement solutions worldwide. It operates through Spectris Scientific, Spectris Dynamics, and Other segments. The Spectris Scientific segment provides advanced sensors and instruments used to measure, analyze, and characterize materials; and monitor ultra-clean manufacturing environments.