Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Investment Research

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA – Get Rating) (TSE:RBA) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

According to Zacks, “Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers conduct unreserved public auctions every year at locations throughout North and Central America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. The company is known for their innovative auction methods, attention to detail and their total commitment to the unreserved auction. The confidence this gives their customers has enabled Ritchie Bros. to become one of the largest industrial auctioneer in the world. “

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 18th. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $68.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 22nd. National Bankshares decreased their price target on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $68.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.17.

Shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers stock opened at $54.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.15. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has a 1-year low of $48.65 and a 1-year high of $76.18.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA – Get Rating) (TSE:RBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The business services provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $359.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.89 million. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 16.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CEO Ann Fandozzi bought 9,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.25 per share, for a total transaction of $499,510.00. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RBA. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 0.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,198,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,139,000 after buying an additional 99,917 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 1.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,393,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $394,241,000 after buying an additional 77,438 shares during the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 2.3% during the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 4,801,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,429,000 after buying an additional 109,980 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 8.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,392,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $270,867,000 after buying an additional 329,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 2.8% during the third quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 4,167,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,992,000 after purchasing an additional 112,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (Get Rating)

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated, an asset management and disposition company, sells industrial equipment and other durable assets through its unreserved auctions, online marketplaces, listing services, and private brokerage services. It sells a range of used and unused commercial assets, including earthmoving equipment, truck tractors and trailers, government surplus, oil and gas equipment, and other industrial assets, as well as construction and heavy machinery.

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