Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc (LON:SPX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc (LON:SPX) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is £101.50 ($127.50).

SPX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Spirax-Sarco Engineering from GBX 8,800 ($110.54) to GBX 9,800 ($123.10) and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Spirax-Sarco Engineering to a “hold” rating and set a GBX 9,740 ($122.35) target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Spirax-Sarco Engineering from £105.80 ($132.90) to GBX 9,960 ($125.11) and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Numis Securities restated a “sell” rating on shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering in a research note on Thursday, March 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spirax-Sarco Engineering

In other news, insider Nimesh Patel sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of £105.27 ($132.23), for a total value of £69,478.20 ($87,273.21). Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Stock Performance

Shares of Spirax-Sarco Engineering stock opened at GBX 8,785 ($110.35) on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 9,876.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 9,633.35. Spirax-Sarco Engineering has a 1-year low of GBX 7,900 ($99.23) and a 1-year high of £114.80 ($144.20). The company has a market cap of £6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,528.11, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.69.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of GBX 114 ($1.43) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Spirax-Sarco Engineering’s previous dividend of $46.00. Spirax-Sarco Engineering’s payout ratio is 6,425.70%.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Company Profile

Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc provides engineered solutions it operates through three segments: Steam Thermal Solutions; Electric Thermal Solutions; and Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions. The company offers industrial and commercial steam systems, including condensate management, controls, and thermal energy management products and solutions for heating, curing, cooking, drying, cleaning, sterilizing, space heating, humidifying, vacuum packing, and producing hot water; electrical process heating and temperature management solutions, such as industrial heaters and systems, heat tracing, and various component technologies for industrial processes; and peristaltic and niche pumps and associated fluid path technologies, including tubing, and specialty filling systems and products for single-use applications.