Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Downgraded by Citigroup to Sell

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,London Stock Exchange reports. They presently have a GBX 245 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of GBX 251. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 21.40% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on LGEN. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 185 target price on shares of Legal & General Group in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 353 to GBX 385 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 255 price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Peel Hunt reissued an “add” rating and issued a GBX 320 price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of GBX 275.43.

Legal & General Group Price Performance

LGEN stock opened at GBX 311.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of £17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of GBX 288.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 269.82. Legal & General Group has a 52-week low of GBX 217.20 and a 52-week high of GBX 318.10.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported GBX 8.01 EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 27.28% and a net margin of 0.91%. Equities analysts expect that Legal & General Group will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark Jordy purchased 3,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 303 per share, for a total transaction of £10,586.82. Insiders bought 8,390 shares of company stock worth $2,444,751 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company 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.