Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company.

BCS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, March 5th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Barclays from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Barclays from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter worth $141,248,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Barclays by 793.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,777,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,073,000 after buying an additional 4,242,360 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 1st quarter worth approximately $81,762,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 89,750,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,035,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:BCS opened at $24.29 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day moving average of $23.94. Barclays has a 52 week low of $17.22 and a 52 week high of $27.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.88 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 21.10%. Analysts predict that Barclays will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.