Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy”.

Barclays Price Performance

Shares of Barclays stock opened at $25.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.86 and a 200 day moving average of $22.63. The company has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.96. Barclays has a 52 week low of $12.14 and a 52 week high of $27.70.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 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 $72.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.23 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Barclays during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,195,000. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Barclays by 4.0% during the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 3,516,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,678,000 after buying an additional 134,560 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Barclays by 10.4% in 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 buying an additional 172,944 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Barclays during the second quarter valued at $654,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 41,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

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.