discoverIE Group (LON:DSCV) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

discoverIE Group (LON:DSCV) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported GBX 41.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. discoverIE Group had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 6.05%.The firm had revenue of £443.30 million during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from discoverIE Group’s conference call:

• Trading momentum improved through the year, with Q4 organic orders up 14% and sales up 5%, helping the company exit the year strongly and return to organic growth across the business.
• Adjusted operating profit rose 1% and adjusted EPS increased 4%, while the adjusted operating margin held relatively steady at 13.8% despite higher investment in growth.
• Cash generation remained very strong, with 92% free cash flow conversion, and working capital as a percentage of sales improved to 16.6%, supporting self-funded growth and acquisitions.
• The company completed or announced three acquisitions focused on higher-growth, higher-margin markets, particularly defense and aerospace, and expects the deals to be accretive to margins over time.
• Outlook and order momentum remain encouraging: Q1 trading started well, orders are still running ahead of sales, and management said the business is in good shape for the year ahead with a strong design-win and acquisition pipeline.

discoverIE Group Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of LON DSCV opened at GBX 770 on Thursday. discoverIE Group has a 52 week low of GBX 505 and a 52 week high of GBX 800. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 646.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 619.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 83.72. The company has a market cap of £747.83 million, a P/E ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 1.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DSCV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 870 price objective on shares of discoverIE Group in a report on Monday, April 20th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 950 price objective on shares of discoverIE Group in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a GBX 685 price objective on shares of discoverIE Group in a report on Thursday. Shore Capital Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of discoverIE Group in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,000 price target on shares of discoverIE Group in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, discoverIE Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 875.83.

About discoverIE Group

discoverIE Group plc is an international group of businesses that design and manufacture innovative electronic components for industrial use. The Group provides application-specific components to original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) internationally, with a focus on key markets driven by structural growth and increasing electronic content, namely renewable energy, medical, transportation, security, and industrial & connectivity.

The Group employs c.4,500 people across 20 countries. Its principal operating units are located in Continental Europe, the UK, China, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Mexico and the USA.