PageGroup (LON:PAGE) Trading Down 16.1% – Here’s What Happened

PageGroup plc (LON:PAGE)’s share price fell 16.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 147 and last traded at GBX 149.95. 676,970 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 1,927,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 178.70.

Key PageGroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting PageGroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Non‑executive director Ben Stevens bought 71,583 shares at GBX 140, signalling insider confidence and providing a short‑term support signal for the stock. Director purchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly results showed GBX 2.90 EPS with weak margins (net margin ~0.7%) and ROE ~4.9% — numbers that point to subdued earnings momentum and limited near‑term upside absent a recovery in hiring. Earnings slide deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Management hosted a conference call / released slides discussing regional trends — useful for investors assessing guidance and timing for recovery in Europe. Earnings call
• Negative Sentiment: The board halved/slashed the dividend after profits fell sharply, reducing the stock’s appeal to income investors and signalling a conservative cash‑return stance. Dividend cut
• Negative Sentiment: Reported profits plunged (multiple outlets cited a large pretax drop and flagged slowing hiring in Europe), which triggered the intra‑day sell‑off and raises uncertainty over near‑term revenue recovery. Profits plunge

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of PageGroup from GBX 450 to GBX 400 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 327.50.

PageGroup Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 204.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 224.32. The firm has a market capitalization of £491.62 million, a P/E ratio of 42.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

PageGroup (LON:PAGE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported GBX 2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. PageGroup had a return on equity of 4.18% and a net margin of 0.56%. On average, analysts forecast that PageGroup plc will post 23.5923567 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PageGroup

In related news, insider Ben Stevens purchased 71,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 140 per share, with a total value of £100,216.20. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About PageGroup

PageGroup Changes Lives…

That’s our PageGroup Purpose, delivered by c.7,300 people in 36 countries, with a gross profit of over £842.6m in 2024. Our four core  PageGroup brands are supported by specialised recruitment teams operating across 25 disciplines.

As a FTSE 250 company, a lot has changed since we were set up in 1976 and the Group continues to grow and evolve. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to the success of our clients and candidates, and our own people.

PageGroup’s strategy is geared for the long-term.