SSP Group (LON:SSPG) Trading 14.4% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) traded up 14.4% during trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as GBX 170.70 and last traded at GBX 169.43. 7,367,625 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 116% from the average session volume of 3,416,653 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 148.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SSPG has been the topic of several research reports. Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 275 price objective on shares of SSP Group in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 310 target price (down previously from GBX 330) on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 190 price target on shares of SSP Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SSP Group from GBX 190 to GBX 170 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of SSP Group from GBX 285 to GBX 262 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SSP Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 232.83.

SSP Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.93, a PEG ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 156.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 162.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29.

SSP Group (LON:SSPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported GBX 11 EPS for the quarter. SSP Group had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 0.24%. Equities analysts expect that SSP Group plc will post 13.1004016 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SSP Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 9th that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Karina Deacon bought 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 171 per share, for a total transaction of £30,780. Also, insider Patrick Coveney purchased 149,669 shares of SSP Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 168 per share, for a total transaction of £251,443.92. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 182,751 shares of company stock worth $30,814,856. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About SSP Group

SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.37,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 36 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of more than 550 international, national and local brands.