Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Barclays (NYSE:BCS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Barclays Trading Down 3.6%

NYSE BCS opened at $20.06 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.05. The stock has a market cap of $69.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95. Barclays has a 52 week low of $12.14 and a 52 week high of $27.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. Barclays had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The firm had revenue of $9.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.23 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.3069 dividend. This represents a yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. Barclays’s payout ratio is currently 25.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Barclays in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Barclays during the second quarter valued at $27,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

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.