Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Short Interest Up 70.5% in July

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,358,304 shares, an increase of 70.5% from the July 15th total of 4,314,606 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,646,476 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Barclays Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Barclays stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.80. 2,766,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,411,360. The stock has a market cap of $94.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.76, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Barclays has a 12-month low of $19.28 and a 12-month high of $28.68.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.78 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 22.27%. As a group, analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.3134 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 224.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCS shares. Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Barclays from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Barclays from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 72.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 47,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 19,818 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Barclays by 19.6% in the 2nd 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. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Barclays by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 45,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in Barclays in the second quarter valued at $451,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Barclays by 3.2% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 243,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,530,000 after acquiring an additional 7,604 shares in the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barclays

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.