Morgan Advanced Materials (LON:MGAM) Stock Price Down 13.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Morgan Advanced Materials plc saw a significant drop of 13.1% in its stock price during trading, closing at GBX 196 ($2.62) after reaching a low of GBX 167 ($2.23) on Thursday.
• The company's insider trading revealed that insiders have sold a total of 93,951 shares worth approximately $20 million over the past ninety days, indicating a trend in insider selling.
• Morgan Advanced Materials reported earnings per share of GBX 10.80 ($0.14) for the latest quarter and a projected EPS of 32.5 for the current year, with a return on equity of 19.02%.

Shares of Morgan Advanced Materials plc (LON:MGAM - Get Free Report) fell 13.1% during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from GBX 275 to GBX 250. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Morgan Advanced Materials traded as low as GBX 167 ($2.25) and last traded at GBX 196 ($2.64). 2,395,195 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 89% from the average session volume of 1,269,546 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 225.50 ($3.03).

Separately, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Advanced Materials from GBX 265 ($3.56) to GBX 240 ($3.23) and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Damien Caby sold 15,016 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 212 ($2.85), for a total transaction of £31,833.92 ($42,799.03). Also, insider Richard Armitage sold 26,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 212 ($2.85), for a total value of £55,857.76 ($75,097.82). Insiders sold a total of 93,951 shares of company stock valued at $20,022,786 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.69% of the company's stock.

Morgan Advanced Materials Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 220.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 219.89. The stock has a market capitalization of £563.46 million, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.19.

Morgan Advanced Materials (LON:MGAM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported GBX 10.80 ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter. Morgan Advanced Materials had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 19.02%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Advanced Materials plc will post 32.5 EPS for the current year.

About Morgan Advanced Materials

Morgan Advanced Materials plc operates as a materials science and application engineering company primarily the United Kingdom. It serves customers in the industrial, transportation, petrochemical and chemical, energy, semiconductor and electronics, healthcare, and security and defense markets. The company was formerly known as The Morgan Crucible Company plc and changed its name to Morgan Advanced Materials plc in March 2013.