Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 250.71.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th.

Legal & General Group Stock Performance

Shares of LGEN stock opened at GBX 273 on Friday. Legal & General Group has a 52-week low of GBX 217.20 and a 52-week high of GBX 300. The stock has a market cap of £15.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 259.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 257.82.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a net margin of 0.91% and a return on equity of 15.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Legal & General Group will post 24.2376446 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 11th that permits the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Legal & General Group

In other news, insider Ric Lewis purchased 931 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, with a total value of £2,355.43. Also, insider Mark Jordy purchased 1,040 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, for a total transaction of £2,631.20. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,758 shares of company stock valued at $1,219,791 and sold 410,095 shares valued at $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Legal & General Group Company Profile

Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Retail segments. The LGRI segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; and longevity insurance products. The LGIM segment offers index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real assets.