discoverIE Group (LON:DSCV) Issues Earnings Results

discoverIE Group (LON:DSCV) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported GBX 41.30 earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. The firm had revenue of £443.30 million during the quarter. discoverIE Group had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 9.04%.

Here are the key takeaways from discoverIE Group’s conference call:

• Trading momentum improved through the year, with Q4 organic orders up 14% and sales up 5%, helping the company exit the year strongly and return to organic growth across the business.
• Adjusted operating profit rose 1% and adjusted EPS increased 4%, while the adjusted operating margin held relatively steady at 13.8% despite higher investment in growth.
• Cash generation remained very strong, with 92% free cash flow conversion, and working capital as a percentage of sales improved to 16.6%, supporting self-funded growth and acquisitions.
• The company completed or announced three acquisitions focused on higher-growth, higher-margin markets, particularly defense and aerospace, and expects the deals to be accretive to margins over time.
• Outlook and order momentum remain encouraging: Q1 trading started well, orders are still running ahead of sales, and management said the business is in good shape for the year ahead with a strong design-win and acquisition pipeline.

discoverIE Group Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of DSCV stock opened at GBX 746 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 651.07 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 621.40. The stock has a market cap of £724.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37 and a beta of 1.19. discoverIE Group has a 52-week low of GBX 505 and a 52-week high of GBX 800.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DSCV. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of discoverIE Group from GBX 950 to GBX 1,050 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a GBX 685 price target on shares of discoverIE Group in a research report on Thursday. Shore Capital Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of discoverIE Group in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,000 price target on shares of discoverIE Group in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 870 price target on shares of discoverIE Group in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, discoverIE Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 879.29.

About discoverIE Group

discoverIE Group plc is an international group of businesses that design and manufacture innovative electronic components for industrial use. The Group provides application-specific components to original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) internationally, with a focus on key markets driven by structural growth and increasing electronic content, namely renewable energy, medical, transportation, security, and industrial & connectivity.

The Group employs c.4,500 people across 20 countries. Its principal operating units are located in Continental Europe, the UK, China, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Mexico and the USA.