Vesuvius (LON:VSVS) Shares Up 24.7% – Still a Buy?

Vesuvius plc (LON:VSVS)’s share price shot up 24.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as GBX 494 and last traded at GBX 467. 2,487,880 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,403,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 374.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Vesuvius from GBX 440 to GBX 400 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 440 price objective on shares of Vesuvius in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on Vesuvius from GBX 520 to GBX 450 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Vesuvius from GBX 520 to GBX 480 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 525 target price on shares of Vesuvius in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 459.

Vesuvius Stock Up 24.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 386.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 421.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 56.90, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of £1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.13.

Vesuvius (LON:VSVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported GBX 16.30 EPS for the quarter. Vesuvius had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 3.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vesuvius plc will post 51.3945695 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vesuvius

In other Vesuvius news, insider Patrick André sold 55,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 368, for a total value of £205,844.48. 25.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Vesuvius

We are a global leader in metal flow engineering, providing a full range of engineering services and solutions to its customers worldwide, principally serving the steel and foundry industries.