Analysts Set Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Target Price at GBX 261.67

Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 261.67.

Several brokerages have weighed in on LGEN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Laura Wade-Gery bought 938 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 267 per share, for a total transaction of £2,504.46. Also, insider John Kingman bought 614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 267 per share, with a total value of £1,639.38. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,757,069 in the last ninety days. 0.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Legal & General Group Stock Performance

LON LGEN opened at GBX 240 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of £13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.81. Legal & General Group has a 52 week low of GBX 206.80 and a 52 week high of GBX 279.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 259.85 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 250.63.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 0.91%. Equities research analysts forecast that Legal & General Group will post 24.2376446 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Legal & General Group Company Profile

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.