Essentra (LON:ESNT) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Essentra plc (LON:ESNT) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 102.65 ($1.32) and last traded at GBX 103.40 ($1.33), with a volume of 29734020 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 104.40 ($1.34).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 170 ($2.19) price objective on shares of Essentra in a report on Wednesday.

Essentra Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of £297.21 million, a P/E ratio of 85.18, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 118.66 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 136.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.89, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Essentra (LON:ESNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported GBX 8.50 ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Essentra had a return on equity of 1.28% and a net margin of 1.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essentra plc will post 524.137931 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essentra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a GBX 1.55 ($0.02) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Essentra’s previous dividend of $1.25. This represents a dividend yield of 1.41%. Essentra’s payout ratio is 329.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Steve Good purchased 35,000 shares of Essentra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 109 ($1.40) per share, with a total value of £38,150 ($49,118.06). Also, insider Rowan Baker acquired 10,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 104 ($1.34) per share, for a total transaction of £10,437.44 ($13,438.19). 0.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essentra Company Profile