Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT) Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies reaffirmed a “buy” rating on Reckitt Benckiser Group and set a GBX 5,900 price target, implying 8.7% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with four buy ratings and three holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of GBX 6,247.14.
• RKT shares opened at GBX 5,428 after rising 4.9%; the company recently reported quarterly EPS of GBX 147.08 and insiders purchased shares worth approximately $21.4 million over the last quarter.

Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Wednesday,Digital Look reports. They presently have a GBX 5,900 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.70% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 5,460 to GBX 5,430 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 7,000 to GBX 6,200 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Berenberg Bank lowered their price objective on Reckitt Benckiser Group from GBX 7,000 to GBX 6,200 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 6,200 target price on shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 6,247.14.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of RKT stock opened at GBX 5,428 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of £34.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 4,809.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 5,289.51. Reckitt Benckiser Group has a 1 year low of GBX 3,866 and a 1 year high of GBX 6,522.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 108.83, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 10th. The company reported GBX 147.08 EPS for the quarter. Reckitt Benckiser Group had a return on equity of 45.27% and a net margin of 22.40%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Reckitt Benckiser Group will post 331.2110727 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Reckitt Benckiser Group news, insider Marybeth Hays purchased 340 shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,585 per share, for a total transaction of £15,589. Also, insider Shannon Eisenhardt acquired 432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of £432 per share, with a total value of £186,624. Insiders bought a total of 1,029 shares of company stock valued at $21,416,350 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Reckitt Benckiser Group

At Reckitt, we protect, heal and nurture. We are the company behind some of the world's best known and most trusted Health and Hygiene consumer brands. Delivering for a cleaner, healthier world requires strong brands with a global footprint. From Dettol, Lysol, Durex, Finish, Harpic and Vanish, Mucinex, Nurofen, Gaviscon, Veet and Strepsils, consumers love and rely on our brands to care for their families, as they have done for over 200 years. We use our scientific expertise and deep human understanding to develop solutions to help people improve their lives – that is why over 30 million Reckitt products are sold each day worldwide. At Reckitt, we're all making a real difference to people all over the world, every day.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.