Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BCS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barclays has an average rating of “Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of BCS stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,880,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,094,861. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.63. Barclays has a one year low of $12.14 and a one year high of $27.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $88.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.96.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $72.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. Barclays had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 8.33%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 72.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 47,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 19,818 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 19.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 3,868 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Barclays by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 19,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Barclays during the 2nd quarter worth about $418,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Barclays by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.