St. James’s Place (LON:STJ) Trading Down 13.4% – Time to Sell?

St. James’s Place plc (LON:STJ)’s stock price fell 13.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 1,243 and last traded at GBX 1,255. 9,472,512 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 29,336,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,449.

Key Headlines Impacting St. James’s Place

Here are the key news stories impacting St. James’s Place this week:

• Positive Sentiment: St. James’s Place remains a large, established UK wealth manager with a market cap of ~£6.5bn and a P/E around 13 — metrics that could help it absorb competitive shocks and reduce long‑term downside risk.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentators argue the recent sell‑off may be an overreaction, calling today’s drop “irrational” given the company’s fundamentals and the time it will take competitors to scale AI offerings. St. James Place share price dives amid AI disruption jitters
• Negative Sentiment: Altruist’s launch of an AI-driven wealth platform is being viewed as a direct competitive threat to traditional managers (including STJ), prompting investor fear about fee pressure and client outflows. St James’s Place, AJ Bell and other financial services giants hit by Altruist AI launch
• Negative Sentiment: St. James’s Place is leading a sectorwide decline among European wealth managers as markets reassess how quickly AI can displace parts of advisory and distribution, increasing near‑term volatility for STJ shares. St. James’s Place Leads European Wealth Managers’ Tumble on AI Threat

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of St. James’s Place from GBX 1,350 to GBX 1,375 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on St. James’s Place from GBX 1,725 to GBX 1,726 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on St. James’s Place from GBX 1,160 to GBX 1,600 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on St. James’s Place from GBX 1,590 to GBX 1,790 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 1,475 target price on shares of St. James’s Place in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 1,645.14.

St. James’s Place Stock Down 13.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of £6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 1,432.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 1,343.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.10.

About St. James’s Place

We plan, grow and protect the financial futures of over one million clients across the UK by providing holistic advice-led wealth management, delivered exclusively by the Partnership, our group of more than 4,900 highly skilled advisers.

We offer an integrated client proposition, through which we provide financial advice, investment product wrappers such as pensions, investment bonds and ISAs, and offer our own range of investment funds and portfolios.