National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 364,182 Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) by 77.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 835,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 364,182 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Barclays were worth $11,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BCS. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Barclays in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Barclays by 135.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of NYSE BCS opened at $13.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. Barclays PLC has a one year low of $8.95 and a one year high of $16.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. As a group, analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.2737 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s payout ratio is 29.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCS has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.