Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BCS. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Barclays by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 83,062,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,544,139,000 after purchasing an additional 9,692,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,248,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Barclays by 793.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,073,000 after purchasing an additional 4,242,360 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Barclays during the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,568,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Barclays by 1,719.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,031,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,765,000 after buying an additional 1,919,843 shares during the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE BCS opened at $20.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.23 and its 200 day moving average is $23.05. Barclays has a twelve month low of $12.14 and a twelve month high of $27.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 21.91%. Research analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.3069 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a yield of 236.0%. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 25.33%.

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.