Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Phoenix Group Holdings plc (LON:PHNX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 621 ($8.29) and last traded at GBX 620.50 ($8.29), with a volume of 2828729 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 617.50 ($8.25).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Phoenix Group from GBX 500 ($6.68) to GBX 565 ($7.55) and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 650 ($8.68) target price on shares of Phoenix Group in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

Phoenix Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of £6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 574.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 531.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 160.32.

Phoenix Group (LON:PHNX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 45.40 ($0.61) earnings per share for the quarter. Phoenix Group had a negative net margin of 2.10% and a negative return on equity of 21.76%. As a group, research analysts expect that Phoenix Group Holdings plc will post 51.179941 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phoenix Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of GBX 27.35 ($0.37) per share. This is an increase from Phoenix Group’s previous dividend of $26.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.66%. Phoenix Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -101.58%.

Insider Transactions at Phoenix Group

In other news, insider Andrew Briggs sold 151,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 582 ($7.77), for a total transaction of £882,230.52 ($1,178,349.83). Insiders own 14.96% of the company’s stock.

About Phoenix Group

Phoenix is the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business with c. £300 billion of assets under administration and c. 12 million customers.
We are a constituent of the FTSE 100 with c. 7,800 colleagues and offer a broad range of products to support people across all stages of the savings life cycle.
We are a growing and sustainable business with a clear purpose – helping people secure a life of possibilities.