JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) Stock Price

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from GBX 2,820 to GBX 2,950 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 2,870 price target on shares of Smiths Group in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 2,750 target price on shares of Smiths Group in a report on Friday, November 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 2,856.67.

Smiths Group Stock Performance

Shares of LON:SMIN opened at GBX 2,461.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 2,442.69 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 2,339.77. The company has a market cap of £7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.66. Smiths Group has a 12 month low of GBX 1,671 and a 12 month high of GBX 2,561.

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported GBX 85.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Smiths Group had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 7.98%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Smiths Group will post 85.1295337 EPS for the current year.

Smiths Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smiths Group

In related news, insider Richard Howes bought 70 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 2,522 per share, for a total transaction of £1,765.40. Also, insider Julian Fagge sold 26,199 shares of Smiths Group stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,421, for a total transaction of £634,277.79. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

About Smiths Group

Smiths Group plc operates as an industrial engineering company in Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four businesses: John Crane, Smiths Detection, Flex-Tek, and Smiths Interconnect. The John Crane business engineers mechanical seals, seal support systems, power transmission couplings, and specialized filtration systems.