Berenberg Bank Begins Coverage on Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Barclays (NYSE:BCS) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised Barclays from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Barclays from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:BCS opened at $27.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.14 and its 200 day moving average is $24.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. Barclays has a 12 month low of $17.73 and a 12 month high of $27.70.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.88 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 21.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that Barclays will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,248,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Barclays by 793.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,073,000 after buying an additional 4,242,360 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Barclays in the 1st quarter worth about $81,762,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,722,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the third quarter worth approximately $35,035,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Company Profile

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.