Close Brothers Group (LON:CBG) Trading Down 21.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Close Brothers Group plc (LON:CBG) dropped 21.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 258.20 ($3.35) and last traded at GBX 270.80 ($3.51). Approximately 125,087,578 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2,586% from the average daily volume of 4,656,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 345.40 ($4.48).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Close Brothers Group in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Close Brothers Group from GBX 610 ($7.91) to GBX 600 ($7.78) and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Close Brothers Group Stock Down 0.1 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 308.27 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 313.01. The firm has a market capitalization of £412.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.82.

Close Brothers Group (LON:CBG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The company reported GBX 30.90 ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter. Close Brothers Group had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 7.79%. As a group, analysts expect that Close Brothers Group plc will post 66.0070671 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael N. Biggs bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 288 ($3.73) per share, for a total transaction of £14,400 ($18,672.20). 2.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Close Brothers Group

Close Brothers Group plc, a merchant banking company, engages in the provision of financial services to small businesses and individuals in the United Kingdom. It operates through five segments: Commercial, Retail, Property, Asset Management, and Securities. The company offers banking services comprising of debt factoring, invoice discounting, asset-based lending; financing for SMEs, residential housing, transport, industrial equipment, renewable energy, motorcycle, used car, and commercial vehicle financing; insurance, refurbishment, and bridging financing, savings products for individuals and corporates, hire purchase, lease, and loan related services.