Marston’s (LON:MARS) Trading Down 11.9% – Here’s What Happened

Marston’s PLC (LON:MARS) fell 11.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 57.45 and last traded at GBX 60.70. 64,611,738 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 994% from the average session volume of 5,905,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 68.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Peel Hunt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 75 price objective on shares of Marston’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Marston’s from GBX 78 to GBX 85 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 80 target price on shares of Marston’s in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Marston’s in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of GBX 80.

Marston’s Trading Down 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of £381.98 million, a P/E ratio of 5.44, a PEG ratio of -0.16 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 198.96, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 60.86 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 48.36.

Marston’s (LON:MARS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 15th. The company reported GBX 8.50 EPS for the quarter. Marston’s had a negative net margin of 1.91% and a negative return on equity of 2.72%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marston’s PLC will post 8.364486 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Marston’s

In other news, insider Justin Platt bought 158,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 59 per share, for a total transaction of £93,402.31. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Marston’s

Marston’s PLC operates managed, franchised, tenanted, partnership, and leased pubs in the United Kingdom. It is also involved in the property management; telecommunications; and insurance businesses. The company was formerly known as The Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC and changed its name to Marston’s PLC in January 2007. The company was founded in 1834 and is based in Wolverhampton, the United Kingdom.