IWG (LON:IWG) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

IWG plc (LON:IWG) shares rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as GBX 174.70 and last traded at GBX 172.50. 1,400,166 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 10,384,405 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 171.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on IWG. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 265 target price on shares of IWG in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 350 price target on shares of IWG in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a GBX 260 price objective on shares of IWG in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 269.80.

IWG Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of £1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.67, a P/E/G ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of -1,917.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 184.64 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 185.36.

IWG announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christian Schmitz purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 183 per share, with a total value of £91,500. Insiders have purchased a total of 125,000 shares of company stock worth $22,050,000 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

About IWG

IWG plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workspace solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers office, coworking and collaboration, flexible and scalable, meeting, and lounges spaces; workplace recovery; memberships workspaces; and reception services and conference products. It provides its services franchise partners, landlords, and property owners under the Regus, Spaces, HQ, Signature, Basepoint, Stop & Work, The Office Operators, BizDojo, Open Office, No18, The Clubhouse, Central Working, and Copernico brands.