Essentra (LON:ESNT) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Essentra plc (LON:ESNT) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 102.65 ($1.33) and last traded at GBX 103.40 ($1.34), with a volume of 29734020 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 104.40 ($1.35).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 170 ($2.20) price target on shares of Essentra in a research report on Wednesday.

Essentra Price Performance

The company has a market cap of £294.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 117.84 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 135.57.

Essentra (LON:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported GBX 8.50 ($0.11) EPS for the quarter. Essentra had a net margin of 1.13% and a return on equity of 1.28%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essentra plc will post 524.137931 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essentra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of GBX 1.55 ($0.02) per share. This is a boost from Essentra’s previous dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a yield of 1.41%. Essentra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 329.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steve Good purchased 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 109 ($1.41) per share, with a total value of £38,150 ($49,378.72). Also, insider Rowan Baker bought 10,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 104 ($1.35) per share, with a total value of £10,437.44 ($13,509.50). 0.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essentra Company Profile