Global Business Travel Group (NYSE:GBTG) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $8.39 and last traded at $8.23, with a volume of 48415 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

Global Business Travel Group Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.50 and a 200-day moving average of $6.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Global Business Travel Group (NYSE:GBTG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $597.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.89 million. Global Business Travel Group had a negative net margin of 1.66% and a negative return on equity of 1.26%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Business Travel Group, Inc. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Business Travel Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Global Business Travel Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GBTG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Global Business Travel Group by 1,116.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,007,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,652,000 after purchasing an additional 925,018 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Business Travel Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 971,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,841,000 after buying an additional 10,446 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Global Business Travel Group in the first quarter valued at $3,383,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 419.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 143,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 116,175 shares during the period. Finally, Ionic Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 480.1% in the first quarter. Ionic Capital Management LLC now owns 131,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 108,619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.46% of the company’s stock.

About Global Business Travel Group

Global Business Travel Group, Inc provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies.