Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold": Six analysts give Legal & General an average recommendation of "Hold" (1 sell, 3 hold, 2 buy) with a 1‑year target price of GBX 261.67.
• Valuation and recent results: LON:LGEN opened at GBX 272.20, has a market cap of £15.28bn and a P/E of 27.95, and reported quarterly EPS of GBX 831 with a return on equity of 15.89%.
• Buyback and insider activity: The board initiated a share buyback plan on March 11 and insiders have been active—Andrew Kail sold 85,011 shares while Laura Wade‑Gery purchased 944 shares; insiders own about 0.59% of the stock.

Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 261.67.

A number of research firms recently commented on LGEN. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "buy" rating and set a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Legal & General Group Stock Up 1.7%

LON:LGEN opened at GBX 272.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 257.77 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 252.64. Legal & General Group has a 52 week low of GBX 217.20 and a 52 week high of GBX 279.50. The firm has a market capitalization of £15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.81.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a net margin of 0.91% and a return on equity of 15.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Legal & General Group will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legal & General Group

In other Legal & General Group news, insider Andrew Kail sold 85,011 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 255, for a total transaction of £216,778.05. Also, insider Laura Wade-Gery acquired 944 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 265 per share, for a total transaction of £2,501.60. In the last quarter, insiders bought 6,884 shares of company stock worth $1,831,202. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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