Wickes Group (LON:WIX) Shares Down 5.9% on Insider Selling

Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX)’s stock price dropped 5.9% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as GBX 212 and last traded at GBX 215.75. Approximately 1,271,633 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 1,142,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 229.16.

Specifically, insider Mark George sold 223,433 shares of Wickes Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 220, for a total value of £491,552.60. Also, insider David Wood sold 355,050 shares of Wickes Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 223, for a total transaction of £791,761.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WIX. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 280 target price on shares of Wickes Group in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Shore Capital Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Wickes Group in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Wickes Group from GBX 275 to GBX 278 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Wickes Group from GBX 250 to GBX 265 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wickes Group from GBX 200 to GBX 227 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 249.17.

Wickes Group Trading Down 5.9%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 226.95 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 226.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 551.57. The stock has a market cap of £485.53 million, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Wickes Group (LON:WIX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported GBX 17.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Wickes Group had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 2.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Wickes Group plc will post 16.2278978 earnings per share for the current year.

Wickes Group Company Profile

Wickes is one of the UK’s best known home improvement retailers. Having opened our first store in 1972 we now have 228 stores across the UK, employing 7,400 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 £27 billion UK Home Improvement market. Over the past few years Wickes has consistently outperformed the market, growing share and delivering a CAGR growth rate double that of the market.

At Wickes, we have a clear purpose, which is to ‘help the nation feel house proud’, and we do this by focusing on our three customer segments – Local Trade, Do-it-for-me and DIY retail.