Vesuvius (LON:VSVS) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Vesuvius plc (LON:VSVS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as GBX 345.60 ($4.42) and last traded at GBX 350 ($4.47), with a volume of 103779 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 366.20 ($4.68).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Vesuvius from GBX 530 ($6.77) to GBX 580 ($7.41) and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Vesuvius Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 396.53 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 397.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 41.62, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of £802.31 million, a P/E ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.20.

Vesuvius (LON:VSVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 7th. The company reported GBX 43.30 ($0.55) earnings per share for the quarter. Vesuvius had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 8.49%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vesuvius plc will post 51.3945695 EPS for the current year.

Vesuvius Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of GBX 16.40 ($0.21) per share. This is a positive change from Vesuvius's previous dividend of $7.10. This represents a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Vesuvius's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vesuvius

In related news, insider Patrick André sold 156,406 shares of Vesuvius stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 390 ($4.98), for a total value of £609,983.40 ($779,431.89). Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

About Vesuvius

We are a global leader in metal flow engineering, providing a full range of engineering services and solutions to its customers worldwide, principally serving the steel and foundry industries.