Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Barclays Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of BCS stock opened at $21.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.09. Barclays has a 1 year low of $12.14 and a 1 year high of $27.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 21.91%.The firm had revenue of $9.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.3069 per share. This represents a yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Barclays’s payout ratio is presently 25.33%.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Barclays by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Barclays by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 42,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Barclays by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 14,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 122,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Barclays by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

About Barclays

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.