Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) to Issue $0.31 Dividend

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) announced a dividend on Tuesday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.3069 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 232.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th.

Barclays has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Barclays has a payout ratio of 11.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Barclays to earn $2.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.31 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.4%.

Barclays Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:BCS traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.22. 6,148,451 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,597,013. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.53 and its 200-day moving average is $22.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.96. Barclays has a 12-month low of $12.14 and a 12-month high of $27.70.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last released its 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 21.26% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $72.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCS. Illumine Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Barclays during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,195,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $37,833,000 after acquiring an additional 172,944 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barclays during the second quarter valued at about $654,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 41,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Barclays in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,206,000. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.