Essentra (LON:ESNT) Shares Pass Below 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Essentra plc (LON:ESNT)’s share price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 96.17 and traded as low as GBX 82.20. Essentra shares last traded at GBX 82.80, with a volume of 452,309 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ESNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Essentra from GBX 150 to GBX 100 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Essentra to GBX 130 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 160 price target on shares of Essentra in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 130 price objective on shares of Essentra in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essentra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 150.

Essentra Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of £228.55 million, a PE ratio of 115.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 89.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 96.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 47.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 2.20.

Essentra (LON:ESNT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The company reported GBX 6.10 EPS for the quarter. Essentra had a return on equity of 0.79% and a net margin of 0.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essentra plc will post 524.137931 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rowan Baker purchased 9,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 84 per share, with a total value of £7,960.68. Also, insider Steve Good purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 93 per share, for a total transaction of £37,200. Insiders acquired 91,194 shares of company stock worth $8,208,359 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Essentra Company Profile

Essentra plc is a leading global provider of essential components and solutions, focusing on the manufacture and distribution of plastic injection moulded, vinyl dip moulded and metal items.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Essentra’s global network extends to 28 countries worldwide and includes c.3,000 employees, 14 manufacturing facilities, 26 distribution centres and 37 sales & service centres serving c.64,000 customers with a rapid supply of low cost but essential products for a variety of applications in industries such as equipment manufacturing, automotive, fabrication, electronics, medical and renewable energy.