Wickes Group (LON:WIX) Shares Up 8.5% - Here's What Happened

Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX - Get Free Report) shot up 8.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 217 ($2.89) and last traded at GBX 214 ($2.85). 2,337,002 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 1,774,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 197.20 ($2.62).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WIX. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 198 ($2.63) target price on shares of Wickes Group in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Wickes Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Wickes Group Trading Down 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of £506.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 456.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 184.78 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 167.51.

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) EPS for the quarter. Wickes Group had a return on equity of 19.39% and a net margin of 2.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that Wickes Group plc will post 16.2278978 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wickes Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David Wood sold 58,445 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 172 ($2.29), for a total value of £100,525.40 ($133,677.39). Company insiders own 7.16% of the company's stock.

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.