Barclays Boosts Beazley (LON:BEZ) Price Target to GBX 920

Beazley (LON:BEZ) had its price target raised by Barclays from GBX 910 ($11.43) to GBX 920 ($11.56) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BEZ. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Beazley from GBX 975 ($12.25) to GBX 1,000 ($12.56) and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Beazley from GBX 770 ($9.67) to GBX 870 ($10.93) and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a GBX 880 ($11.06) price objective on shares of Beazley in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of GBX 906 ($11.38).

Beazley Price Performance

Shares of BEZ opened at GBX 629.50 ($7.91) on Friday. The company has a market cap of £4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 524.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68. Beazley has a twelve month low of GBX 485.80 ($6.10) and a twelve month high of GBX 699.50 ($8.79). The company has a quick ratio of 6.45, a current ratio of 20.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 661.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 585.97.

Beazley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of GBX 14.20 ($0.18) per share. This is an increase from Beazley’s previous dividend of $13.50. This represents a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. Beazley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,166.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Adrian Cox sold 26,323 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 646 ($8.12), for a total value of £170,046.58 ($213,626.36). In other Beazley news, insider Sally Lake sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 671 ($8.43), for a total transaction of £50,325 ($63,222.36). Also, insider Adrian Cox sold 26,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 646 ($8.12), for a total value of £170,046.58 ($213,626.36). 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Beazley

Beazley plc provides risk insurance and reinsurance solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through Cyber Risks, Digital, MAP Risks, Property Risks, and Specialty Risks segments. The Cyber Risk segment underwrites cyber and technology risks.