Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.27 Per Share

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) declared a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.2737 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27.

Barclays has increased its dividend by an average of 36.1% per year over the last three years. Barclays has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Barclays to earn $2.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.55 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

Barclays Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BCS opened at $15.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.11. Barclays has a 52-week low of $8.37 and a 52-week high of $15.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33. The company has a market capitalization of $55.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.40.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

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.