Primary Health Properties (LON:PHP) Stock Price Passes Below 200-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• Primary Health Properties shares fell below their 200-day moving average, trading as low as GBX 92.65 versus the GBX 94.30 average, and last changed hands at GBX 93.80.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic: four rate the stock a Buy and one a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of GBX 115.20.
• The healthcare-focused REIT reported quarterly EPS of GBX 3.80 and has maintained an unbroken 30-year record of dividend growth through investments in long-term-leased healthcare properties.

Primary Health Properties Plc (LON:PHP - Get Free Report) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 94.30 and traded as low as GBX 92.65. Primary Health Properties shares last traded at GBX 93.80, with a volume of 574,545,000 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHP has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 118 price target on shares of Primary Health Properties in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Primary Health Properties from GBX 128 to GBX 133 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Shore Capital Group reissued a "house stock" rating on shares of Primary Health Properties in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 115 price objective on shares of Primary Health Properties in a report on Friday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 115.20.

Primary Health Properties Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 94.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 94.30. The stock has a market capitalization of £2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 131.37, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Primary Health Properties (LON:PHP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported GBX 3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Primary Health Properties had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 43.30%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Primary Health Properties Plc will post 7.0875912 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Primary Health Properties Company Profile

PHP is a leading investor in critical healthcare infrastructure in the UK and Ireland. The overall objective of the group is to create progressive returns to shareholders through a combination of earnings growth and capital appreciation. PHP has an unbroken 30 year track record of dividend growth. To achieve this, PHP invests in healthcare real estate let on long-term leases, backed by secure underlying covenants where the majority of rental income is funded directly or indirectly by a government body.

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