Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Shares of Phoenix Group Holdings plc (LON:PHNX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 596 ($7.92) and last traded at GBX 592.36 ($7.87), with a volume of 5135115 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 589.50 ($7.83).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PHNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Phoenix Group from GBX 500 ($6.64) to GBX 565 ($7.51) and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 650 ($8.64) price target on shares of Phoenix Group in a research note on Monday, February 17th.

Phoenix Group Trading Up 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of £5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.49, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 552.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 523.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 160.32, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 3.30.

Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 45.40 ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter. Phoenix Group had a negative net margin of 2.10% and a negative return on equity of 21.76%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Phoenix Group Holdings plc will post 51.179941 EPS for the current year.

Phoenix Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a GBX 27.35 ($0.36) dividend. This is a boost from Phoenix Group's previous dividend of $26.65. This represents a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Phoenix Group's payout ratio is presently -101.58%.

Insider Transactions at Phoenix Group

In other Phoenix Group news, insider Andrew Briggs sold 151,586 shares of Phoenix Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 582 ($7.73), for a total value of £882,230.52 ($1,172,087.84). Insiders own 14.96% of the company's stock.

Phoenix Group Company Profile

Phoenix is the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business with c. £300 billion of assets under administration and c. 12 million customers. We are a constituent of the FTSE 100 with c. 7,800 colleagues and offer a broad range of products to support people across all stages of the savings life cycle. We are a growing and sustainable business with a clear purpose – helping people secure a life of possibilities.