IWG (LON:IWG) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

IWG plc (LON:IWG) shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as GBX 186.90 and last traded at GBX 185.35. 4,191,326 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 9,950,249 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 183.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

IWG Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is GBX 179.68 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 184.98. The firm has a market cap of £1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 205.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of -1,917.40.

IWG declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at IWG

In other IWG news, insider Christian Schmitz acquired 50,000 shares of IWG stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were bought 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 three months. Company insiders own 26.19% 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.