United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 1,431.43.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a GBX 1,320 target price on shares of United Utilities Group in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of United Utilities Group from £152.50 to GBX 1,340 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of United Utilities Group to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,550 in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on United Utilities Group from GBX 1,300 to GBX 1,450 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on United Utilities Group from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,550 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th.

United Utilities Group Price Performance

LON:UU opened at GBX 1,364 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 1,328.76 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 1,319.03. The company has a market cap of £9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 512.65.

United Utilities Group (LON:UU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported GBX 107.10 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of GBX 261.63 billion for the quarter. United Utilities Group had a net margin of 22.43% and a return on equity of 27.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Utilities Group will post 50.9730539 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Phil Aspin sold 24,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,306, for a total transaction of £320,831.96. In the last three months, insiders bought 38 shares of company stock worth $51,768. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

United Utilities Group Company Profile

United Utilities Group PLC provides water and wastewater services in the United Kingdom. It is involved in the renewable energy generation, corporate trustee, financing, and property management activities; and provision of consulting, and project management services. The company operates 43,000 kilometers of water pipes; and 79,000 kilometers of wastewater pipes. United Utilities Group PLC was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Warrington, the United Kingdom.