Smiths Group’s (SMIN) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Berenberg Bank

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by research analysts at Berenberg Bank in a research report issued on Friday,Digital Look reports. They currently have a GBX 2,750 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.52% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SMIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Smiths Group in a report on Friday, October 17th. Panmure Gordon reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 2,870 target price on shares of Smiths Group in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smiths Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 2,810.

Smiths Group Stock Performance

Shares of LON:SMIN traded up GBX 6 during trading on Friday, hitting GBX 2,444. 820,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,133,771. Smiths Group has a 52-week low of GBX 1,671 and a 52-week high of GBX 2,561. The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 2,430.28 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,325.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of £7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.66.

Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 23rd. The company reported GBX 85.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Smiths Group had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 7.98%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Smiths Group will post 85.1295337 EPS for the current year.

Smiths Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Smiths Group

In other news, insider Julian Fagge sold 26,199 shares of Smiths Group stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,421, for a total transaction of £634,277.79. Also, insider Richard Howes bought 70 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 2,522 per share, with a total value of £1,765.40. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Smiths Group

Smiths Group plc operates as an industrial engineering company in Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four businesses: John Crane, Smiths Detection, Flex-Tek, and Smiths Interconnect. The John Crane business engineers mechanical seals, seal support systems, power transmission couplings, and specialized filtration systems.