Diploma (LON:DPLM) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 4,802 ($60.59) and last traded at GBX 4,802 ($60.59), with a volume of 603928 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,762 ($60.08).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DPLM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 5,100 ($64.35) price objective on shares of Diploma in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($55.13) to GBX 4,420 ($55.77) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Shore Capital cut Diploma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 4,567.50 ($57.63).

Diploma Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 4,394.59 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 4,378.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.17. The company has a market cap of £6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75.

Diploma (LON:DPLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 96.50 ($1.22) EPS for the quarter. Diploma had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 9.25%. On average, equities analysts predict that Diploma PLC will post 163.7995512 EPS for the current year.

Diploma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were given a dividend of GBX 42 ($0.53) per share. This is a boost from Diploma’s previous dividend of $17.30. This represents a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 16th. Diploma’s payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Davies bought 3,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,280 ($54.00) per share, for a total transaction of £167,647.60 ($211,516.02). Also, insider Jennifer Ward purchased 1,000 shares of Diploma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 4,250 ($53.62) per share, with a total value of £42,500 ($53,620.99). Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

About Diploma

Diploma PLC, together with its subsidiaries, supplies specialized technical products and services in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, North America, and internationally. It operates through three business sectors: Life Sciences, Seals, and Controls. The Life Sciences sector supplies technology-enabled products used in surgical procedures in operating theatres and endoscopy; testing equipment and services for clinical laboratories; and bio-pharma, food safety and testing, and other research-oriented products.