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

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company.

Several research firms have recently commented on BCS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Barclays in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCS. Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in Barclays by 82.2% during the third quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 18,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 8,281 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Barclays by 147.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,121,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,134 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Barclays during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Barclays by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,929,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,030,000 after purchasing an additional 220,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BCS opened at $10.72 on Thursday. Barclays has a 1-year low of $6.23 and a 1-year high of $10.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $40.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.11.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.38 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 6.13% and a net margin of 17.21%. Sell-side analysts predict that Barclays will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.2671 per share. This represents a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.14. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.81%.

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.