Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc (LON:SPX) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc (LON:SPX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 8,107.50 ($107.58).

Several research firms have weighed in on SPX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering from GBX 7,800 ($103.50) to GBX 7,700 ($102.18) and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Price Performance

Shares of SPX traded up GBX 190 ($2.52) on Wednesday, hitting GBX 6,115 ($81.14). The company's stock had a trading volume of 154,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,007,975. The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 6,381.35 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 6,843.01. Spirax-Sarco Engineering has a fifty-two week low of GBX 5,380 ($71.39) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 9,850 ($130.71). The company has a market capitalization of £4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 98.85, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (LON:SPX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported GBX 286.30 ($3.80) EPS for the quarter. Spirax-Sarco Engineering had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 11.57%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Spirax-Sarco Engineering will post 334.5410628 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a GBX 117.50 ($1.56) dividend. This is a positive change from Spirax-Sarco Engineering's previous dividend of $47.50. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Spirax-Sarco Engineering's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nimesh Patel sold 697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 6,723 ($89.21), for a total transaction of £46,859.31 ($62,180.61). Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Company Profile

Spirax-Sarco Engineering rebrands as Spirax Group On 22 February 2024, Spirax-Sarco Engineering changed its name to Spirax Group which reflects the Company's evolution over many years to a larger and stronger Group of three aligned Businesses with differentiated and complementary capabilities. Our new name respects our history and where we have come from, with who we are today.