Andrew Heath Sells 8,848 Shares of Spectris plc (LON:SXS) Stock

Spectris plc (LON:SXS) insider Andrew Heath sold 8,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,532 ($32.69), for a total transaction of £224,031.36 ($289,259.34).

Andrew Heath also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 7th, Andrew Heath bought 5 shares of Spectris stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 3,012 ($38.89) per share, with a total value of £150.60 ($194.45).
• On Wednesday, January 8th, Andrew Heath acquired 6 shares of Spectris stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,512 ($32.43) per share, with a total value of £150.72 ($194.60).

Spectris Stock Performance

Shares of SXS stock opened at GBX 2,458 ($31.74) on Friday. The firm has a market cap of £2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is GBX 2,795.87 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 2,661.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.37. Spectris plc has a 52-week low of GBX 2,370 ($30.60) and a 52-week high of GBX 3,430 ($44.29).

Spectris (LON:SXS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported GBX 148.10 ($1.91) earnings per share for the quarter. Spectris had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 20.13%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spectris plc will post 194.7972456 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Spectris Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of GBX 56.60 ($0.73) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from Spectris’s previous dividend of $26.60. Spectris’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Spectris in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on shares of Spectris from GBX 3,180 ($41.06) to GBX 3,000 ($38.73) and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 3,765 ($48.61).

About Spectris

The experts in providing insight through precision measurement.

Our purpose is to deliver value beyond measure – going beyond just the measurement.

Precision is at the heart of what we do. Spectris provides global customers with specialist insight through our high-tech instruments and test equipment, augmented by the power of our software.

Through a combination of our hardware, analytical and simulation software, we provide our customers with superior data and invaluable insights that enable them to work faster, smarter and more efficiently.

This equips them with the ability to reduce time to market, improve processes, quality and yield.