Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Paragon Banking Group PLC (LON:PAG) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 860.07 and traded as high as GBX 866. Paragon Banking Group shares last traded at GBX 861, with a volume of 365,304 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PAG. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 1,050 target price on shares of Paragon Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Shore Capital Group raised their price target on Paragon Banking Group from GBX 1,040 to GBX 1,055 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 1,020 price objective on shares of Paragon Banking Group in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 1,028.20.

Paragon Banking Group Stock Up 0.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 872.36 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 860.07. The stock has a market cap of £1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.52.

Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The company reported GBX 91.20 EPS for the quarter. Paragon Banking Group had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 25.14%. Equities research analysts forecast that Paragon Banking Group PLC will post 104.0245566 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paragon Banking Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paragon Banking Group

In other news, insider Richard Woodman acquired 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 808 per share, for a total transaction of £121,200. Also, insider Nigel S. Terrington sold 23,940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 902, for a total transaction of £215,938.80. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 63,716 shares of company stock valued at $50,362,060. Corporate insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

About Paragon Banking Group

Paragon is a specialist banking group. It offers a range of savings accounts and provide finance for landlords and small
and medium-sized businesses (‘SMEs’) and residential property developers in the UK. Founded in 1985 and listed on the
London Stock Exchange, it is a FTSE-250 company. Headquartered in Solihull, it employs more than 1,400 people.
Its operations are organised into two lending divisions and lending is funded largely by retail deposits.