Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barclays (NYSE:BCS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BCS. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Barclays Stock Performance

Shares of BCS stock opened at $25.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.68. Barclays has a 52 week low of $12.14 and a 52 week high of $27.70. The firm has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 21.91%.The firm had revenue of $72.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a $0.3069 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Illumine Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Barclays in the third quarter worth about $2,195,000. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Barclays by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 3,516,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,678,000 after acquiring an additional 134,560 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Barclays by 10.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,830,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,833,000 after purchasing an additional 172,944 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the 2nd quarter valued at about $654,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 146,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 41,585 shares during the period. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barclays Company Profile

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.