Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Barclays PLC has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six analysts, with one rating it a hold and five issuing buy recommendations.
• Recently, several brokerages adjusted their ratings on Barclays, with Citigroup lowering its rating to "neutral", while Morgan Stanley maintained an "overweight" rating.
• Barclays announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.1557, with a yield of 210.0%, while also reporting strong quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations.

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company.

BCS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Barclays from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barclays by 13.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 83,062,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,544,139,000 after purchasing an additional 9,692,999 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 37.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 33,607,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $516,163,000 after buying an additional 9,188,263 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 485.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,680,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $88,789,000 after buying an additional 5,538,912 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 78.7% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 8,892,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $136,593,000 after buying an additional 3,917,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company's stock.

Barclays Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE BCS traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $20.22. 772,835 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,358,646. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.70, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $71.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.15. Barclays has a 12 month low of $11.22 and a 12 month high of $20.56.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.12. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 22.11%. The firm had revenue of $9.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.06 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.1557 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 210.0%. Barclays's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.29%.

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.