Costain Group (LON:COST) Shares Down 17.1% – Here’s What Happened

Costain Group PLC (LON:COST) fell 17.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 134 ($1.81) and last traded at GBX 135.40 ($1.83). 12,026,422 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 739% from the average session volume of 1,433,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 163.40 ($2.21).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Costain Group from GBX 150 to GBX 175 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Costain Group from GBX 115 to GBX 150 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 162.50.

Costain Group Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 153.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 125.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86. The company has a market capitalization of £351.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 2.64.

Costain Group (LON:COST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported GBX 5.50 earnings per share for the quarter. Costain Group had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 2.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costain Group PLC will post 13.7551582 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costain Group news, insider Helen Willis sold 100,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 142, for a total value of £142,116.44. Also, insider Alex Vaughan sold 241,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 144, for a total value of £347,960.16. In the last quarter, insiders sold 612,435 shares of company stock worth $87,561,906. 6.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Costain Group

Costain helps to improve people’s lives by creating connected, sustainable infrastructure that enables people and the planet thrive. We shape, create and deliver pioneering solutions that transform the performance of the infrastructure ecosystem across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets.