Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Marks and Spencer Group plc (LON:MKS)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 367.39 and traded as high as GBX 384.21. Marks and Spencer Group shares last traded at GBX 376.40, with a volume of 401,486,469 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Marks and Spencer Group to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from GBX 440 to GBX 450 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 435 target price on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Marks and Spencer Group from GBX 410 to GBX 390 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 425 price target on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 440 price objective on shares of Marks and Spencer Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 422.50.

Marks and Spencer Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of £7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 384.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 367.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 111.89, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Marks and Spencer Group (LON:MKS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported GBX 23.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of GBX 1,727.36 billion for the quarter. Marks and Spencer Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 1.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Marks and Spencer Group plc will post 26.0113154 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marks and Spencer Group news, insider Stuart Machin sold 560,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 384, for a total transaction of £2,151,943.68. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marks and Spencer Group Company Profile

M&S has a heritage of quality, innovation and value for money and has been voted the UK’s most trusted brand. From these foundations, M&S is reshaping for sustainable profitable growth and value creation.

We operate as a family of businesses, selling high-quality, great-value, own-brand products and services, alongside a carefully selected range of third-party brands. We do this through a network of stores and websites globally, and together, across our stores, support centres, warehouses and supply chain, our 65,000 colleagues serve over 30 million customers each year.