Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Barclays shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $28.74 and closing near $28.55. The stock is up above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with five Buy ratings and four Holds, producing a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” though BNP Paribas Exane recently downgraded the stock to Neutral.
• Barclays exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.90 in earnings per share versus a $0.89 consensus estimate and $10.95 billion in revenue. The company also announced a $0.3134 dividend payable September 15 to shareholders of record August 7.

Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $28.74 and last traded at $28.55, with a volume of 10770 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BCS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barclays from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Barclays from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Barclays from an "overweight" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barclays presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Barclays Trading Up 0.6%

The firm has a market cap of $97.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.76, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.79.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.80% and a net margin of 22.27%.The company had revenue of $10.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.78 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Barclays PLC will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.3134 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 233.0%. Barclays's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brooklands Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in Barclays during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,405,000. Hedges Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,067,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Barclays by 2,009.8% during the first quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 86,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,830,000 after buying an additional 82,400 shares during the last quarter. Bluebird Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,628,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Barclays by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 135,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,452,000 after buying an additional 53,655 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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