NEXT (LON:NXT) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

NEXT plc (LON:NXT - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as £124.90 ($166.02) and last traded at £124.54 ($165.55), with a volume of 3416065 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at £123.38 ($164.01).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of NEXT in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

NEXT Trading Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of £14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of £109.13 and a 200-day moving average price of £101.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 76.08.

NEXT (LON:NXT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported GBX 615.10 ($8.18) earnings per share for the quarter. NEXT had a net margin of 13.77% and a return on equity of 55.99%. As a group, research analysts expect that NEXT plc will post 660.7526882 EPS for the current year.

NEXT Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of GBX 208 ($2.76) per share. This represents a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from NEXT's previous dividend of $75.00. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. NEXT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard Papp sold 4,307 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of £109.85 ($146.02), for a total value of £473,123.95 ($628,903.30). Also, insider Jeremy Stakol bought 270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of £118.55 ($157.58) per share, for a total transaction of £32,008.50 ($42,547.52). 6.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NEXT Company Profile

Founded as a tailoring business in Leeds in 1864 by Joseph Hepworth and Son, today, the company offers clothing, footwear, accessories, beauty and home products to our UK and International customers. NEXT has over 500 stores in the United Kingdom and Eire, and over 180 franchise branches across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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