Grafton Group plc (LON:GFTU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Grafton Group plc (LON:GFTU) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,153.33.

A number of brokerages recently commented on GFTU. Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on Grafton Group from GBX 1,100 to GBX 1,000 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,275 price target on shares of Grafton Group in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,175 price target on shares of Grafton Group in a research note on Thursday, March 19th.

Grafton Group Price Performance

Shares of LON:GFTU opened at GBX 895.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 37.55, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 867.39 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 911.45. Grafton Group has a fifty-two week low of GBX 788.60 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 1,034. The firm has a market cap of £2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.08.

Grafton Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grafton Group news, insider Eric Born acquired 1,182 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 915 per share, for a total transaction of £10,815.30. 9.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Grafton Group

Grafton Group plc engages in the distribution, retailing, and manufacturing businesses in Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom. Its Distribution segment distributes building materials, paint, tools, ironmongery, fixings, and accessories, workwear and PPE, and spare parts; materials and plant for mechanical services, heating, plumbing, and air movement; and trade, DIY, and self-build markets with building materials, timber, doors and floors, plumbing and heating, bathrooms, and landscaping products under the Selco, Leyland SDM, Chadwicks, MacBlair, Isero, Polvo, Gunters en Meuser, TG Lynes, and IKH brands.