Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.80 and last traded at $25.7290, with a volume of 127915 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BCS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Monday, November 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.67.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 21.26%.The business had revenue of $9.21 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Barclays in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Barclays during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Barclays by 2,673.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Barclays during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 3.39% of the stock is 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.