Shore Capital Boosts Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) Price Target to GBX 1,055

Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Shore Capital from GBX 1,040 to GBX 1,055 in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Shore Capital’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.68% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PAG. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,020 price target on shares of Paragon Banking Group in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Paragon Banking Group from GBX 975 to GBX 1,050 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 1,028.20.

Paragon Banking Group Stock Down 1.6%

PAG stock traded down GBX 14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting GBX 881.50. The company had a trading volume of 718,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,344. Paragon Banking Group has a 52-week low of GBX 650.50 and a 52-week high of GBX 981. The firm has a market capitalization of £1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 853.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 868.98.

Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The company reported GBX 91.20 EPS for the quarter. Paragon Banking Group had a return on equity of 14.13% and a net margin of 25.14%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paragon Banking Group will post 104.0245566 earnings per share for the current year.

Paragon Banking Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nigel S. Terrington purchased 30,280 shares of Paragon Banking Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 785 per share, for a total transaction of £237,698. Also, insider Richard Woodman purchased 18,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 785 per share, for a total transaction of £144,722.60. Insiders have acquired 63,716 shares of company stock valued at $50,362,060 over the last 90 days. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Paragon Banking Group

Paragon is a specialist banking group. It offers a range of savings accounts and provide finance for landlords and small
and medium-sized businesses (‘SMEs’) and residential property developers in the UK. Founded in 1985 and listed on the
London Stock Exchange, it is a FTSE-250 company. Headquartered in Solihull, it employs more than 1,400 people.
Its operations are organised into two lending divisions and lending is funded largely by retail deposits.