Brokerages expect Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE:RBA) (TSE:RBA) to report $327.59 million in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Three analysts have issued estimates for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’ earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $323.30 million and the highest is $333.45 million. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers reported sales of $331.54 million in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year-over-year growth rate of 1.2%. The business is expected to announce its next earnings report on Thursday, November 4th.
On average, analysts expect that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will report full year sales of $1.45 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $1.44 billion to $1.47 billion. For the next year, analysts expect that the firm will report sales of $1.70 billion, with estimates ranging from $1.54 billion to $1.85 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that follow Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA) (TSE:RBA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 4th. The business services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.06). Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $396.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $418.80 million.
Several research firms recently commented on RBA. Raymond James set a $63.00 price target on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 28th. TD Securities dropped their price target on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 16th. National Bankshares dropped their price target on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 9th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, National Bank Financial dropped their target price on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $66.00 to $62.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.43.
RBA opened at $63.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.18. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers has a 12 month low of $50.61 and a 12 month high of $78.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.96 and a 200 day moving average of $61.20.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 25th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’s payout ratio is presently 59.52%.
In related news, CFO Sharon Ruth Driscoll sold 14,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.75, for a total value of $913,591.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,135,891.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James J. Jeter sold 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.90, for a total transaction of $456,025.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,445 shares of company stock valued at $1,701,154 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RBA. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 10.8% during the second quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 51,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 3.6% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,405,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $97,660,000 after purchasing an additional 84,102 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 41.5% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 26,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 7,689 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 16.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 499,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,592,000 after purchasing an additional 72,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 260.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 89,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,223,000 after purchasing an additional 64,519 shares in the last quarter. 80.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc is an industrial auctioneer, which engages in the sale of equipment to on-site and online bidders. It operates through the following segments: Auctions and Marketplaces, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services and Mascus. The Auctions and Marketplaces segment consists of live on site auctions, online auctions and marketplaces, and brokerage service.
