Beazley (LON:BEZ) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Beazley plc (LON:BEZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 926.50 ($11.98) and last traded at GBX 926 ($11.97), with a volume of 14019370 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 916.54 ($11.85).

Beazley Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 859.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 811.38. The firm has a market cap of £7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68.

Beazley (LON:BEZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported GBX 137 ($1.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Beazley had a net margin of 22.82% and a return on equity of 32.60%. On average, research analysts expect that Beazley plc will post 101.6172507 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Beazley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a GBX 25 ($0.32) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a positive change from Beazley’s previous dividend of $14.20. Beazley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.76%.

Beazley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Adrian Cox sold 27,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 902 ($11.66), for a total value of £250,503.44 ($323,898.94). 2.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.