Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) Hits New 1-Year High on Insider Buying Activity

Johnson Matthey PLC (LON:JMAT) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as GBX 2,376 and last traded at GBX 2,371.15, with a volume of 13363 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,350.

Specifically, insider Alastair Judge bought 12 shares of Johnson Matthey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 2,321 per share, for a total transaction of £278.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on JMAT shares. Berenberg Bank lowered their target price on Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,100 to GBX 2,050 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,100 to GBX 2,300 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Panmure Gordon reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 2,370 price objective on shares of Johnson Matthey in a report on Monday, November 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Johnson Matthey from GBX 2,200 to GBX 2,420 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Johnson Matthey from GBX 1,800 to GBX 2,100 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson Matthey presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 2,248.

Johnson Matthey Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 2,122.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 2,000.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.73, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of £3.95 billion, a PE ratio of -35.81, a PEG ratio of 49,242.50 and a beta of 0.95.

Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported GBX 51.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Johnson Matthey had a net margin of 0.84% and a return on equity of 4.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Johnson Matthey PLC will post 173.4112903 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Matthey Company Profile

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200 years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs, they improve the function, performance and safety of their customers’ products. Their science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with their network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.