Unite Group (LON:UTG) Shares Down 10.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Unite Group PLC shares experienced a significant drop of 10.8%, trading as low as GBX 628 ($8.43) on Wednesday, with trading volume increasing by 73% compared to its average.
• Despite the recent drop, Citigroup has maintained a "buy" rating and a target price of GBX 1,205 for the stock, indicating confidence from analysts.
• Insider Joe Lister purchased 11,389 shares at an average price of GBX 690, signaling potential insider optimism about the company's future performance.

Unite Group PLC (LON:UTG - Get Free Report) shares were down 10.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 628 ($8.43) and last traded at GBX 630.50 ($8.47). Approximately 4,407,595 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 73% from the average daily volume of 2,545,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 706.50 ($9.49).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 1,205 target price on shares of Unite Group in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 1,205.

Unite Group Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is GBX 720.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 792.78. The company has a market cap of £3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 905.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 38.76.

Unite Group (LON:UTG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported GBX 38 earnings per share for the quarter. Unite Group had a net margin of 79.68% and a return on equity of 6.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Unite Group PLC will post 47.9341004 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joe Lister bought 11,389 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 690 per share, for a total transaction of £78,584.10. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

About Unite Group

Unite Students is the UK's largest owner, manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation, serving the country's world-leading Higher Education sector. We provide homes to 70,000 students across 157 properties in 23 leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over 60 universities across the UK.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.