Jefferies Financial Group Lowers AJ Bell (LON:AJB) to Hold

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of AJ Bell (LON:AJB) to a hold rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has GBX 361 ($4.54) price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AJB. Shore Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of AJ Bell in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Berenberg Bank restated a hold rating and issued a GBX 370 ($4.65) target price on shares of AJ Bell in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of GBX 390.25 ($4.90).

AJ Bell Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AJB opened at GBX 336 ($4.22) on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 7.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.47. AJ Bell has a 12 month low of GBX 241.60 ($3.04) and a 12 month high of GBX 345.36 ($4.34). The stock’s 50 day moving average is GBX 305.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 298.46. The firm has a market cap of £1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,976.47, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.90.

AJ Bell Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 11th were given a GBX 7.25 ($0.09) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 11th. This is an increase from AJ Bell’s previous dividend of $3.50. AJ Bell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6,470.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of AJ Bell stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.87), for a total transaction of £83,982.36 ($105,505.48). In other AJ Bell news, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of AJ Bell stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.87), for a total value of £83,982.36 ($105,505.48). Also, insider Peter Birch sold 17,000 shares of AJ Bell stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 327 ($4.11), for a total value of £55,590 ($69,836.68). 33.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AJ Bell Company Profile

AJ Bell plc, through its subsidiaries, operates investment platforms in the United Kingdom. The company offers AJ Bell Investcentre, which offers advisers and clients service, easy-to-use functionality, and a comprehensive investment range at competitive prices; and AJ Bell, an investment platform. It also provides Touch by AJ Bell, an investment platform which help advisers to streamline their businesses with investment solutions delivered and managed digitally on their clients' smartphones; and Dodl by AJ Bell, an investment app.