Barclays PLC (BCS) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barclays from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE:BCS opened at $22.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.76, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.02. Barclays has a 1-year low of $19.29 and a 1-year high of $28.68.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $27.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.78 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Barclays will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.3134 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 224.0%. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Barclays by 2.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,691,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,918,000 after acquiring an additional 199,130 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Barclays during the 1st quarter valued at $81,762,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Barclays by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,180,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,706,000 after acquiring an additional 12,899 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Barclays by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 798,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,900,000 after acquiring an additional 82,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Barclays during the 1st quarter worth $15,771,000. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC is a diversified British financial services company headquartered in London. Tracing its history to 1690, the company operates as a universal bank serving individual consumers, businesses, institutions and governments.

Its services include personal and business banking, residential mortgages, credit cards, consumer lending, payments, commercial lending, wealth management and private banking. Through its investment bank, Barclays also provides corporate finance and advisory services, equity and debt underwriting, securities research, sales and trading, and related capital-markets services.

Barclays primarily serves customers in the United Kingdom and the United States, while its corporate, investment banking and markets activities support clients across international financial centers.