Ashtead Group PLC (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Ashtead Group PLC (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASHTY. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ashtead Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. BNP Paribas raised Ashtead Group from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Ashtead Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ashtead Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th.

Ashtead Group Stock Down 1.0%

ASHTY stock opened at $272.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Ashtead Group has a 52 week low of $186.01 and a 52 week high of $337.95.

Ashtead Group (OTCMKTS:ASHTY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.76 by ($0.96). Ashtead Group had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 13.68%.The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Ashtead Group will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashtead Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $2.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Ashtead Group’s previous dividend of $1.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a yield of 155.0%. Ashtead Group’s dividend payout ratio is 41.25%.

About Ashtead Group

Ashtead Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the construction, industrial, and general equipment rental business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides pumps, power generation, heating, cooling, scaffolding, traffic management, temporary flooring, trench shoring, and lifting services.