Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 283.01 and last traded at GBX 267.01, with a volume of 30162658 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 265.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LGEN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 250.71.

Legal & General Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of £14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 253.01 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 255.16.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 0.91%. Sell-side analysts expect that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 11th that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legal & General Group

In related news, insider Andrew Kail sold 204,858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 271, for a total transaction of £555,165.18. Also, insider António Simões sold 120,226 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 240, for a total value of £288,542.40. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 7,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,840,038 and sold 410,095 shares valued at $106,048,563. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Legal & General Group Company Profile

Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Retail segments. The LGRI segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; and longevity insurance products. The LGIM segment offers index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real assets.