Insider Buying: Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Insider Acquires 1,084 Shares of Stock

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) insider Laura Wade-Gery acquired 1,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 251 ($3.40) per share, with a total value of £2,720.84 ($3,687.27).

Laura Wade-Gery also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 1st, Laura Wade-Gery acquired 1,159 shares of Legal & General Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 235 ($3.18) per share, with a total value of £2,723.65 ($3,691.08).

Legal & General Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of LGEN stock traded up GBX 1.06 ($0.01) on Thursday, reaching GBX 255.66 ($3.46). 75,996,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,708,273. Legal & General Group Plc has a 52 week low of GBX 206.80 ($2.80) and a 52 week high of GBX 266.20 ($3.61). The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18. The stock has a market capitalization of £14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 47.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 239.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 236.15.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.89 ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 0.67%. As a group, analysts forecast that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current year.

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of GBX 15.36 ($0.21) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This is a positive change from Legal & General Group's previous dividend of $6.00. This represents a yield of 6.18%. Legal & General Group's payout ratio is 387.68%.

Legal & General Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 265 ($3.59) price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 267 ($3.62).

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.