Legal & General Group's (LGEN) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Berenberg Bank

Key Points

• Berenberg Bank reiterated a Buy rating on Legal & General with a GBX 308 price target, implying about a 21.67% upside from the current stock price.
• Overall analyst sentiment is muted — 2 Buys, 3 Holds and 1 Sell — producing a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 261.67, while the stock trades around GBX 253.
• The board approved a stock repurchase program for open‑market buys, while insiders have been net sellers recently (410,095 shares sold vs. 6,884 bought in the last 90 days), with insiders owning 0.59% of the company.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by Berenberg Bank in a research note issued to investors on Friday,London Stock Exchange reports. They presently have a GBX 308 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Berenberg Bank's target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.67% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LGEN. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 261.67.

Legal & General Group Price Performance

LON:LGEN opened at GBX 253.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of GBX 255.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 253.97. The stock has a market cap of £14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.81. Legal & General Group has a 1-year low of GBX 217.20 and a 1-year high of GBX 279.50.

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

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legal & General Group

In other news, insider António Simões sold 120,226 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 240, for a total transaction of £288,542.40. Also, insider Ric Lewis purchased 856 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 265 per share, for a total transaction of £2,268.40. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 6,884 shares of company stock valued at $1,831,202 and have sold 410,095 shares valued at $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by company 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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