Wickes Group (LON:WIX) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 225 ($3.04) and last traded at GBX 225 ($3.04), with a volume of 360266 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 221 ($2.99).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WIX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Wickes Group from GBX 198 ($2.68) to GBX 250 ($3.38) and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Wickes Group in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Wickes Group Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 198.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 174.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 456.98, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of £528.00 million, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.78.

Wickes Group (LON:WIX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported GBX 14.10 ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Wickes Group had a return on equity of 19.39% and a net margin of 2.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Wickes Group plc will post 16.2278978 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wickes Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a GBX 7.30 ($0.10) dividend. This is an increase from Wickes Group's previous dividend of $3.60. This represents a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Wickes Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David Wood sold 58,445 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 172 ($2.33), for a total value of £100,525.40 ($135,992.15). 7.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wickes Group Company Profile

Wickes is one of the UK's best known home improvement retailers. Having opened our first store in 1972 we now have over 230 stores across the UK, employing 8,500 colleagues and offering products ranging from kitchens and bathrooms, to paint, tools and timber. Wickes is a successful, growing, cash generative and profitable business, operating in the large and growing £25 billion UK Home Improvement market.