Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Wickes Group plc (LON:WIX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 249.17.

Several analysts have issued reports on WIX shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Wickes Group from GBX 275 to GBX 278 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Wickes Group from GBX 250 to GBX 265 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Shore Capital Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Wickes Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Wickes Group from GBX 200 to GBX 227 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 280 target price on shares of Wickes Group in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Wickes Group Stock Performance

Wickes Group stock opened at GBX 201.69 on Monday. Wickes Group has a 1-year low of GBX 189.40 and a 1-year high of GBX 255. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 551.57. The firm has a market capitalization of £449.52 million, a PE ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 218.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 225.64.

Wickes Group (LON:WIX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported GBX 17.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Wickes Group had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 29.52%. As a group, analysts expect that Wickes Group will post 16.2278978 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark George sold 223,433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 220, for a total value of £491,552.60. Also, insider David Wood sold 355,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 223, for a total transaction of £791,761.50. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wickes Group Company Profile

Wickes is one of the UK’s best known home improvement retailers. Having opened our first store in 1972 we now have 228 stores across the UK, employing 7,400 colleagues and offering products ranging from kitchens and bathrooms, to paint, tools and timber.

Wickes is a successful, growing, cash generative and profitable business, operating in the large and growing £27 billion UK Home Improvement market. Over the past few years Wickes has consistently outperformed the market, growing share and delivering a CAGR growth rate double that of the market.

At Wickes, we have a clear purpose, which is to ‘help the nation feel house proud’, and we do this by focusing on our three customer segments – Local Trade, Do-it-for-me and DIY retail.