Beazley (LON:BEZ) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Beazley plc (LON:BEZ - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 926.50 ($11.95) and last traded at GBX 926 ($11.95), with a volume of 14019370 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 916.54 ($11.82).

Beazley Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 865.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 815.69. The company has a market capitalization of £6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 5.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Beazley Increases Dividend

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

Beazley declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Beazley

In other Beazley news, insider Adrian Cox sold 27,772 shares of Beazley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 902 ($11.64), for a total value of £250,503.44 ($323,146.85). 2.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Beazley Company Profile

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.