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

Key Points

• St. James’s Place shares fell 2.9% to a new 52-week low of GBX 1,038.75, significantly below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Despite the decline, analyst sentiment remains positive: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and two rate it a Hold, with a consensus price target of GBX 1,695.43 versus the latest price near GBX 1,040.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of GBX 43.30, while insider Penny James purchased approximately £99,500 worth of shares in May, suggesting some internal confidence in the business.

St. James's Place plc (LON:STJ - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 1,038.75 and last traded at GBX 1,040, with a volume of 2778959 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,085.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on STJ. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 1,400 target price on shares of St. James's Place in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 1,686 to GBX 1,663 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 2,050 to GBX 2,000 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 1,800 price objective on shares of St. James's Place in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of St. James's Place from GBX 1,790 to GBX 1,830 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 1,695.43.

St. James's Place Trading Down 2.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 36.73, a current ratio of 3.80 and a quick ratio of 3.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 1,175.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 1,264.37. The firm has a market capitalization of £5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.02.

St. James's Place (LON:STJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported GBX 43.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. St. James's Place had a return on equity of 37.33% and a net margin of 1.76%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that St. James's Place plc will post 67.9947461 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Penny James acquired 8,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,182 per share, for a total transaction of £99,500.76. Company 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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