Diploma (LON:DPLM) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 4,654 ($57.95) and last traded at GBX 4,644 ($57.83), with a volume of 1254410 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,612 ($57.43).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DPLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,100 ($63.50) target price on shares of Diploma in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Shore Capital lowered shares of Diploma to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($54.41) to GBX 4,420 ($55.04) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 4,567.50 ($56.87).

Diploma Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5,402.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 4,381.44 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 4,367.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.69, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Diploma (LON:DPLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 96.50 ($1.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Diploma had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 9.25%. Equities research analysts expect that Diploma PLC will post 163.7995512 earnings per share for the current year.

Diploma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th were paid a dividend of GBX 42 ($0.52) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. This is a positive change from Diploma’s previous dividend of $17.30. Diploma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,627.91%.

Insider Activity

In other Diploma news, insider Jennifer Ward acquired 1,000 shares of Diploma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 4,250 ($52.92) per share, with a total value of £42,500 ($52,919.94). Also, insider Chris Davies bought 3,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 4,280 ($53.29) per share, with a total value of £167,647.60 ($208,750.59). Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

About Diploma

Diploma PLC, together with its subsidiaries, supplies specialized technical products and services in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, North America, and internationally. It operates through three business sectors: Life Sciences, Seals, and Controls. The Life Sciences sector supplies technology-enabled products used in surgical procedures in operating theatres and endoscopy; testing equipment and services for clinical laboratories; and bio-pharma, food safety and testing, and other research-oriented products.