Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Insider Jeff Davies Buys 80 Shares

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) insider Jeff Davies acquired 80 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 245 ($3.16) per share, with a total value of £196 ($252.84).

Legal & General Group Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of Legal & General Group stock opened at GBX 226.69 ($2.92) on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 241.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 231.09. Legal & General Group Plc has a fifty-two week low of GBX 211.40 ($2.73) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 266.20 ($3.43). The firm has a market cap of £13.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.89 ($0.04) EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 7.79%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of GBX 15.36 ($0.20) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This is a positive change from Legal & General Group’s previous dividend of $6.00. This represents a yield of 6.18%. Legal & General Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 387.68%.

Legal & General Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 290 ($3.74) to GBX 295 ($3.81) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “top pick” rating on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 265 ($3.42) price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Legal & General Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 267 ($3.44).

Legal & General Group Company Profile

Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in Legal & General Retirement Institutional (LGRI), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Retail segments.