Wickes Group (LON:WIX) Shares Up 8.5% - Should You Buy?

Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 8.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 217 ($2.89) and last traded at GBX 214 ($2.85). 2,337,002 shares were traded during mid-day 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).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WIX. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 198 ($2.64) target price on shares of Wickes Group in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Shore Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Wickes Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Wickes Group Stock Up 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of £507.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 181.97 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 166.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 456.98.

Wickes Group (LON:WIX - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wickes Group plc will post 16.2278978 EPS for the current year.

Wickes Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Wickes Group

In related news, insider David Wood sold 58,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 172 ($2.29), for a total value of £100,525.40 ($133,784.14). Company insiders own 7.16% of the company's stock.

About Wickes Group

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.

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