SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 244.50.

SSPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Shore Capital reiterated a “house stock” rating on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of SSP Group from GBX 310 to GBX 350 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 230 target price on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 275 target price on shares of SSP Group in a report on Friday, October 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SSP Group news, insider Geert Verellen acquired 41,006 shares of SSP Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 181 per share, with a total value of £74,220.86. Also, insider Karina Deacon bought 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 171 per share, for a total transaction of £30,780. Insiders purchased 227,675 shares of company stock worth $38,884,478 in the last three months. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SSP Group Price Performance

SSPG stock opened at GBX 192 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of £1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 179.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 168.87. SSP Group has a 1 year low of GBX 134.10 and a 1 year high of GBX 212.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.44.

SSP Group (LON:SSPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported GBX 11 EPS for the quarter. SSP Group had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 0.24%. On average, equities analysts predict that SSP Group will post 13.1004016 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SSP Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 9th that permits the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SSP Group Company Profile

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.37,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 36 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of more than 550 international, national and local brands. These include our own brands (such as UrbanCrave, which brought the first “street eats” concept to airports in the US, Nippon Ramen, a noodle and dumpling concept in the Asia Pac region, and Juniper, a premium bar in the UK) as well as franchise brands (such as M&S, Starbucks and Burger King).