Share Buyback Program Announced by SSP Group (LON:SSPG) Board of Directors

Key Points

• The board of directors at SSP Group has authorized a new share buyback program, indicating confidence in the value of its stock.
• Recent analyst reports show a mixed outlook for SSP Group, with target prices ranging from GBX 170 to GBX 330 and three analysts rating the stock as a buy.
• SSP Group's stock has shown volatility, trading around GBX 162.20 recently, with a market capitalization of £1.30 billion.

SSP Group (LON:SSPG - Get Free Report) declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 9th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SSPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on SSP Group from GBX 200 to GBX 190 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on SSP Group from GBX 320 to GBX 330 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group lowered SSP Group to a "sell" rating and set a GBX 170 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised SSP Group to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from GBX 180 to GBX 190 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of GBX 228.40.

SSP Group Stock Performance

LON:SSPG traded down GBX 4.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting GBX 162.20. The stock had a trading volume of 10,602,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,035,331. SSP Group has a 52 week low of GBX 134.10 and a 52 week high of GBX 196.30. The stock has a market capitalization of £1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5,406.67, a P/E/G ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 160.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 161.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick Coveney sold 69,007 shares of SSP Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 173, for a total value of £119,382.11. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About SSP Group

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.37,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 36 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of more than 550 international, national and local brands.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.