Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 573.71.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LGEN shares. 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 2,490 to GBX 2,510 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target 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.

Legal & General Group Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of LON:LGEN opened at GBX 280.70 on Friday. Legal & General Group has a 52-week low of GBX 217.20 and a 52-week high of GBX 300. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 262.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 259.15. The company has a market capitalization of £15.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Legal & General Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legal & General Group

In related news, insider Mark Jordy purchased 980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 268 per share, with a total value of £2,626.40. Also, insider John Kingman purchased 650 shares of the firm’s 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 £1,644.50. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 4,758 shares of company stock valued at $1,219,791 and have sold 410,095 shares valued at $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.