Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 285.65 and last traded at GBX 269.50, with a volume of 57474801 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 272.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LGEN shares. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 308 price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 250.71.

Legal & General Group Stock Up 0.7%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 256.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 256.88. The firm has a market cap of £15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a net margin of 0.91% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Equities analysts forecast that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 earnings per share for the current year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legal & General Group

In related news, insider Ric Lewis bought 931 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, with a total value of £2,355.43. Also, insider Laura Wade-Gery bought 988 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, for a total transaction of £2,499.64. In the last quarter, insiders bought 7,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,840,038 and sold 410,095 shares valued at $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Legal & General Group

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.