Diploma (LON:DPLM) Sets New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Shares of Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 4,654 ($58.58) and last traded at GBX 4,644 ($58.45), with a volume of 1254410 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 4,612 ($58.05).

Analyst Ratings Changes

DPLM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 5,100 ($64.19) price objective on shares of Diploma in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($55.00) to GBX 4,420 ($55.63) and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Shore Capital downgraded Diploma to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of GBX 4,567.50 ($57.49).

Diploma Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 4,390.79 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 4,376.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.17.

Diploma (LON:DPLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 96.50 ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Diploma had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 9.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Diploma PLC will post 163.7995512 EPS for the current year.

Diploma Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Diploma

In related news, insider Johnny Thomson sold 26,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 4,536 ($57.09), for a total value of £1,215,375.84 ($1,529,736.74). Also, insider Chris Davies bought 3,917 shares of Diploma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 4,280 ($53.87) per share, with a total value of £167,647.60 ($211,010.20). 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.