Shore Capital Group Reaffirms "House Stock" Rating for Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS)

Key Points

• Shore Capital Group reiterated its "house stock" rating on Marks and Spencer Group, keeping the retailer in focus for investors.
• Other brokers remain broadly positive: Jefferies and Citigroup both maintained buy ratings, with target prices of GBX 440 and GBX 430, respectively; the overall analyst consensus is Moderate Buy.
• Marks and Spencer shares were trading at GBX 325.90, below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, and insider Stuart Machin recently sold 150,000 shares for about £606,000.

Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "house stock" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Shore Capital Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,London Stock Exchange reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MKS. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 440 price objective on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Marks and Spencer Group to GBX 430 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 416.43.

Marks and Spencer Group Price Performance

Marks and Spencer Group stock opened at GBX 325.90 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 353.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 357.66. Marks and Spencer Group has a 12 month low of GBX 315.30 and a 12 month high of GBX 411.80. The stock has a market capitalization of £6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 362.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 121.22, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stuart Machin sold 150,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 404, for a total transaction of £606,000. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Marks and Spencer Group

M&S has a heritage of quality, innovation and value for money and has been voted the UK's most trusted brand. From these foundations, M&S is reshaping for sustainable profitable growth and value creation. We operate as a family of businesses, selling high-quality, great-value, own-brand products and services, alongside a carefully selected range of third-party brands. We do this through a network of stores and websites globally, and together, across our stores, support centres, warehouses and supply chain, our 65,000 colleagues serve over 30 million customers each year.

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