SSP Group (LON:SSPG) Trading 14.8% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of SSP Group plc (LON:SSPG) shot up 14.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as GBX 170.70 and last traded at GBX 170. 7,672,920 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 124% from the average session volume of 3,417,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 148.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on SSP Group from GBX 190 to GBX 170 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 310 price objective (down from GBX 330) on shares of SSP Group in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Shore Capital reiterated a “house stock” rating on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Thursday. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 275 price objective on shares of SSP Group in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 190 price objective on shares of SSP Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SSP Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 232.83.

SSP Group Stock Up 3.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of £1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.77 and a beta of 1.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 156.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 162.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 852.29, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Karina Deacon acquired 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 171 per share, with a total value of £30,780. Also, insider Patrick Coveney bought 149,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 168 per share, with a total value of £251,443.92. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 186,751 shares of company stock worth $31,474,856. Corporate 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.