AJ Bell (LON:AJB) Sets New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

AJ Bell plc (LON:AJB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as GBX 409.50 ($5.20) and last traded at GBX 400.17 ($5.09), with a volume of 7931990 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 362.50 ($4.61).

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a GBX 4.25 ($0.05) dividend. This represents a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. AJ Bell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6,470.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AJB shares. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 370 ($4.70) target price on shares of AJ Bell in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of AJ Bell to a “hold” rating and set a GBX 361 ($4.59) target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of AJ Bell in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 390.25 ($4.96).

AJ Bell Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 7.16, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 319.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 306.77. The company has a market capitalization of £1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,370.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.91), for a total transaction of £83,982.36 ($106,739.15). Insiders own 32.71% of the company’s stock.

About AJ Bell

AJ Bell plc, through its subsidiaries, operates investment platforms in the United Kingdom. The company offers AJ Bell Investcentre, which offers advisers and clients service, easy-to-use functionality, and a comprehensive investment range at competitive prices; and AJ Bell, an investment platform. It also provides Touch by AJ Bell, an investment platform which help advisers to streamline their businesses with investment solutions delivered and managed digitally on their clients' smartphones; and Dodl by AJ Bell, an investment app.