St. James's Place (LON:STJ) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• St. James's Place hit a new 52-week low during Thursday trading, falling to GBX 1,107.50 before last trading at GBX 1,114, well below its previous close of GBX 1,204.
• Despite the slide, analyst sentiment remains fairly constructive: five analysts rate the stock a Buy, two rate it Hold, and the consensus target price is GBX 1,695.43.
• An insider signal was also positive, as Penny James bought 8,418 shares in May at GBX 1,182 each, while the stock continues to trade below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

St. James's Place plc (LON:STJ - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 1,107.50 and last traded at GBX 1,114, with a volume of 1595820 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,204.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STJ shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 1,700 price objective on shares of St. James's Place in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 1,790 to GBX 1,830 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on St. James's Place from GBX 1,686 to GBX 1,663 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on St. James's Place from GBX 2,050 to GBX 2,000 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 1,800 price target on shares of St. James's Place in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 1,695.43.

St. James's Place Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of £5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 36.73. The company's 50 day moving average is GBX 1,193.13 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 1,285.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at St. James's Place

In other news, insider Penny James bought 8,418 shares of St. James's Place stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,182 per share, with a total value of £99,500.76. Insiders own 1.21% of the company's stock.

About St. James's Place

We plan, grow and protect the financial futures of over one million clients across the UK by providing holistic advice-led wealth management, delivered exclusively by the Partnership, our group of more than 4,900 highly skilled advisers. We offer an integrated client proposition, through which we provide financial advice, investment product wrappers such as pensions, investment bonds and ISAs, and offer our own range of investment funds and portfolios.

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