AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Phoenix Group Holdings Group CEO and Director Andrew Briggs has hiked his stake in the company
- With a share price of GBX 715, the stock of Phoenix Group Holdings is trading at 3.4 per cent above its 50-day moving average
Shares of Phoenix Group Holdings Plc (LON:PHNX), the London-headquartered insurer, jumped more than 34 per cent in the afternoon trades on Monday, 9 November after the group CEO reportedly raised the shareholding in the company. According to media reports, Phoenix Group Holdings Group CEO and Director Andrew Briggs has hiked his stake in the insurance services provider by 24 per cent.
Briggs has bought ordinary shares of Phoenix Group equivalent to more than £290,000 at a price of £7.12 per share. Earlier in October 2020, the Group CEO Briggs had bought nearly 17,688 ordinary shares of Phoenix Group Holdings at a price of £6.74 a piece translating into a total of £119,387.
Phoenix Group stock performance
The stock of Phoenix Group surged as much as 4.78 per cent to hit an intraday high of GBX 749.20 from the previous closing price of GBX 715. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, Phoenix Group shares are trading lower as compared to the closing peak price achieved in the present calendar year.
Phoenix Group Holdings (9 November)
However, the stock of Phoenix Group Holdings has soared over 50 per cent from the bottom realised during the turbulent trading in March 2020 when the markets collapsed over the coronavirus pandemic-led fears. Phoenix Group Holdings share price has amassed a gain of approximately 53 per cent in the seven-and-half-month period. The stock of Phoenix Group Holdings has climbed 52.96 per cent to GBX 715 from the yearly-closing low of GBX 467.45 (23 March 2020).
Phoenix Group Holdings (YTD performance)
(Source: Thomson Reuters)
With a share price of GBX 715 or more, the stock of Phoenix Group Holdings is trading at least at 3.4 per cent above its 50-day moving average price of GBX 691.65 and 7.8 per cent above the 200-day moving average price of GBX 663.52. Notably, the shares of Phoenix Group Holdings were still trading 11 per cent lower as their 52-week high price GBX 803. As per a London Stock Exchange report, Phoenix Group Holdings shares were trading at 83.14 times over the earnings per share (EPS) generated during the latest fiscal year.
Ratings upgrade
In July this year, the London-headquartered investment banking major Barclays Plc expressed its preference for Phoenix Group Holdings following which the former upgraded the rating of Phoenix Group. Barclays had raised its rating to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal-weight’ increasing the target price of Phoenix Group Holdings shares to GBX 793 from the previous target of GBX 698.
The rating upgrade for Phoenix Group Holdings came within a few days after the life and pension fund consolidator said the company has completed the acquisition of ReAssure Group Plc from Swiss Re Group.
According to Barclays, the stock of Phoenix Group Holdings has been one of the best performers among the UK life insurance sector on the YTD scale primarily because the markets and investors value clear positive catalysts.
Earlier last year in December, the Swiss Re announced its intent to sell the UK insurance arm ReAssure to Phoenix Group for $4.3 billion worth of cash and a proportionate number of shares.
