The Weir Group (LON:WEIR) Shares Up 8.7% on Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• The Weir Group shares rose 8.7% to GBX 2,744 after insider Penelope Anne Freer purchased 900 shares worth approximately £24,561.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with eight Buy ratings and one Hold rating; the consensus price target is GBX 3,435.33, above the current share price.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of GBX 54.60, alongside a 13.42% return on equity and a 9.63% net margin.

Shares of The Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR - Get Free Report) traded up 8.7% during trading on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as GBX 2,802 and last traded at GBX 2,744. Approximately 3,137,856 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 9,425,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,524.

Specifically, insider Penelope Anne Freer bought 900 shares of The Weir Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,729 per share, with a total value of £24,561.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Shore Capital Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of The Weir Group in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Panmure Gordon raised The Weir Group to a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,490 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup downgraded The Weir Group to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Weir Group from GBX 3,500 to GBX 3,800 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a GBX 3,555 price objective on shares of The Weir Group in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Weir Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 3,435.33.

The Weir Group Trading Up 8.7%

The business's 50-day simple moving average is GBX 2,435.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 2,823.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.56. The company has a market capitalization of £7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07.

The Weir Group (LON:WEIR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported GBX 54.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The Weir Group had a return on equity of 13.42% and a net margin of 9.63%. On average, analysts predict that The Weir Group PLC will post 136.0509554 earnings per share for the current year.

The Weir Group Company Profile

The Weir Group PLC produces and sells highly engineered original equipment worldwide. It operates in two segments, Minerals and ESCO. The Minerals segment offers engineering, manufacturing, and service processing technology for the use in abrasive high-wear mining applications; and differentiated technology for the use in infrastructure and general industrial markets. The ESCO segment provides ground engaging tools for large mining machines. This segment also offers cloud-based Artificial Intelligence solutions to the mining industry; manufactures and distributes highly engineered wear parts; and offers aftermarket services to the mining industry.

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