Franchise Brands (LON:FRAN) Trading Down 1.9% – Here’s Why

Franchise Brands plc (LON:FRAN)’s stock price traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as GBX 143.50 ($1.94) and last traded at GBX 144 ($1.95). 49,174 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 143,467 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 146.75 ($1.98).

Franchise Brands Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 42.67, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of £280.75 million, a PE ratio of 36.47 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 140.76 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 147.71.

Franchise Brands (LON:FRAN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 27th. The company reported GBX 8.59 ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Franchise Brands had a net margin of 6.43% and a return on equity of 3.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Franchise Brands plc will post 11.3266098 EPS for the current year.

Franchise Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a GBX 1.30 ($0.02) dividend. This is a boost from Franchise Brands’s previous dividend of $1.10. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. Franchise Brands’s payout ratio is presently 50.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Franchise Brands

In related news, insider Louise George bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 145 ($1.96) per share, with a total value of £72,500 ($97,972.97). Also, insider Stephen Hemsley bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 134 ($1.81) per share, with a total value of £33,500 ($45,270.27). In the last three months, insiders acquired 100,000 shares of company stock worth $14,025,000. Insiders own 39.04% of the company’s stock.

About Franchise Brands

Franchise Brands is an international, multi-brand franchisor focused on B2B van-based service with seven franchise brands and a presence in 10 countries across the UK, North America and Europe. The Group is focused on building market-leading businesses primarily via a franchise model and has a combined network of over 600 franchisees.

The Company owns several market-leading brands with long trading histories, including Pirtek in Europe, Filta, Metro Rod and Metro Plumb, all of which benefit from the Group’s central support services, particularly technology, marketing, and finance.