Beazley (LON:BEZ) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Beazley plc (LON:BEZ) shares 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 Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of £6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 5.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 862.66 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 813.62.

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

Beazley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a GBX 25 ($0.32) dividend. This represents a yield of 2.77%. This is an increase from Beazley’s previous dividend of $14.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Beazley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Beazley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 ($11.66), for a total value of £250,503.44 ($323,857.07). 2.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.