AJ Bell (LON:AJB) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Hold”

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AJ Bell (LON:AJB) to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has GBX 361 ($4.53) target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AJB. Berenberg Bank restated a hold rating and set a GBX 370 ($4.65) price objective on shares of AJ Bell in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Shore Capital restated a buy rating on shares of AJ Bell in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 390.25 ($4.90).

AJ Bell Trading Down 0.3 %

LON:AJB opened at GBX 336 ($4.22) on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 7.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 305.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 297.40. AJ Bell has a 12-month low of GBX 241.60 ($3.03) and a 12-month high of GBX 345.36 ($4.34). The firm has a market cap of £1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,976.47, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.90.

AJ Bell Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 11th were issued a GBX 7.25 ($0.09) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 11th. This is an increase from AJ Bell’s previous dividend of $3.50. AJ Bell’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,470.59%.

Insider Activity at AJ Bell

In other AJ Bell news, insider Peter Birch sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 327 ($4.11), for a total value of £55,590 ($69,827.91). In other news, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of AJ Bell stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.87), for a total transaction of £83,982.36 ($105,492.22). Also, insider Peter Birch sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 327 ($4.11), for a total transaction of £55,590 ($69,827.91). Company insiders own 33.23% of the company’s stock.

About AJ Bell

AJ Bell plc, through its subsidiaries, operates investment platforms in the United Kingdom. The company offers AJ Bell Investcentre, which offers advisers and clients service, easy-to-use functionality, and a comprehensive investment range at competitive prices; and AJ Bell, an investment platform. It also provides Touch by AJ Bell, an investment platform which help advisers to streamline their businesses with investment solutions delivered and managed digitally on their clients' smartphones; and Dodl by AJ Bell, an investment app.