Vertu Motors (LON:VTU) Trading Up 13.4% – Here’s Why

Vertu Motors plc (LON:VTU) shares rose 13.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as GBX 73.10 and last traded at GBX 72. Approximately 23,841,576 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2,839% from the average daily volume of 811,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 63.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Vertu Motors from GBX 78 to GBX 76 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Shore Capital Group reissued a “house stock” rating on shares of Vertu Motors in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of GBX 76.

Vertu Motors Stock Up 15.7%

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.98. The company has a market capitalization of £226.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 61.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 62.34.

Vertu Motors (LON:VTU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported GBX 4.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of GBX 483.38 billion for the quarter. Vertu Motors had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 4.05%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertu Motors plc will post 8.9391576 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David Crane sold 1,041,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 65, for a total transaction of £676,745.55. Also, insider Karen Anderson sold 524,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 65, for a total transaction of £341,145.35. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,580,026 shares of company stock worth $102,701,690. Corporate insiders own 4.38% of the company’s stock.

Vertu Motors Company Profile

Vertu Motors plc operates as an automotive retailer in the United Kingdom. The company sells new and used cars and motorcycles, vans, motability cars, and commercial vehicles, as well as provides related aftersales services. It operates chain of franchised dealerships offering sales, service, parts, and bodyshop facilities for new and used cars, and commercial vehicles under the Bristol Street Motors, Macklin Motors, and Vertu Motors. The company's franchise dealerships include Audi, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Volvo, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, MINI, smart, Volkswagen, Citroen, CUPRA, Dacia, DS, Ford, Hyundai, MG, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT, SKODA, Vauxhall, Ford, Mazda, and Toyota.