Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Marks and Spencer shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as GBX 411.80 and closing near GBX 409.90, with more than 15.3 million shares changing hands.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: six analysts rate the stock a Buy and two rate it Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of GBX 422.50.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of GBX 23.80 and revenue of approximately £1.73 billion, but insiders recently sold shares and insider ownership remains low at 0.45%.

Marks and Spencer Group plc (LON:MKS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as GBX 411.80 and last traded at GBX 409.90, with a volume of 15304916 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 409.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MKS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Marks and Spencer Group to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from GBX 440 to GBX 450 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 440 price objective on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a "house stock" rating on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 425 price objective on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 410 to GBX 390 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 422.50.

Marks and Spencer Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 111.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of £8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 372.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 363.62.

Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported GBX 23.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 1,727.36 billion for the quarter. Marks and Spencer Group had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 8.86%. On average, analysts expect that Marks and Spencer Group plc will post 26.0113154 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Marks and Spencer Group

In other Marks and Spencer Group news, insider Stuart Machin sold 560,402 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 384, for a total transaction of £2,151,943.68. Also, insider Alison Dolan sold 85,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 359, for a total transaction of £305,150. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Marks and Spencer Group Company Profile

M&S has a heritage of quality, innovation and value for money and has been voted the UK's most trusted brand. From these foundations, M&S is reshaping for sustainable profitable growth and value creation. We operate as a family of businesses, selling high-quality, great-value, own-brand products and services, alongside a carefully selected range of third-party brands. We do this through a network of stores and websites globally, and together, across our stores, support centres, warehouses and supply chain, our 65,000 colleagues serve over 30 million customers each year.

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