Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup downgraded Legal & General Group to “Sell” and lowered its price target from GBX 251 to GBX 245, implying approximately 21.4% downside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans negative, with the stock carrying an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of GBX 275.43.
• Legal & General reported quarterly earnings of GBX 8.01 per share, while shares opened at GBX 311.72 and insiders have purchased shares worth approximately £2.44 million over the past three months.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Monday,London Stock Exchange reports. They presently have a GBX 245 price objective on the financial services provider's stock, down from their previous price objective of GBX 251. Citigroup's price objective points to a potential downside of 21.40% from the company's current price.

LGEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a GBX 185 price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a GBX 255 target price on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Peel Hunt restated an "add" rating and set a GBX 320 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 353 to GBX 385 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Legal & General Group presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of GBX 275.43.

Legal & General Group Price Performance

Shares of LON LGEN opened at GBX 311.72 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is GBX 288.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 269.82. Legal & General Group has a one year low of GBX 217.20 and a one year high of GBX 318.10. The company has a market capitalization of £17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported GBX 8.01 earnings per share for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 27.28% and a net margin of 0.91%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Legal & General Group will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark Jordy bought 3,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 303 per share, with a total value of £10,586.82. In the last three months, insiders purchased 8,390 shares of company stock valued at $2,444,751. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Legal & General Group

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.

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