Barclays' (BCS) Hold Rating Reiterated at Erste Group Bank

Key Points

• Erste Group reiterated its "hold" rating on Barclays, while analyst coverage is mixed (one Strong Buy, three Buys, two Holds) leaving the stock with a MarketBeat average rating of Moderate Buy.
• Shares traded down 1.5% to $22.98, with a market cap of $79.37 billion, a P/E of 10.03, and a 12‑month range of $12.14 to $27.70.
• Barclays reported quarterly EPS of $0.46 (beating the $0.42 estimate) and a net margin of 21.91%, though the firm shows high leverage with a debt‑to‑equity ratio of 5.45.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Erste Group Bank in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

BCS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research upgraded Barclays from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Barclays Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of BCS stock traded down $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $22.98. The stock had a trading volume of 539,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,769,549. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.83 and a 200 day moving average of $22.94. Barclays has a 12-month low of $12.14 and a 12-month high of $27.70. The stock has a market cap of $79.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.95.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. Barclays had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The business had revenue of $72.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Barclays by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,284,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,722,757 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 5.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 9,886,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $204,357,000 after purchasing an additional 549,497 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Barclays in the fourth quarter worth about $141,248,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Barclays by 39.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,841,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,065,000 after buying an additional 1,362,247 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 793.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,073,000 after buying an additional 4,242,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company's stock.

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.

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