Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 285.65 and last traded at GBX 269.50, with a volume of 57474801 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 272.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 308 target price on shares of Legal & General Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 250.71.

Legal & General Group Trading Down 1.0%

The business has a 50 day moving average of GBX 255.76 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 256.56. The stock has a market cap of £15.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 earnings per share for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 0.91%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Legal & General Group

In other news, insider Mark Jordy bought 1,040 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, for a total transaction of £2,631.20. Also, insider Andrew Kail sold 204,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 271, for a total transaction of £555,165.18. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 7,085 shares of company stock worth $1,840,038 and have sold 410,095 shares worth $106,048,563. Company insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

About Legal & General Group

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. The LGRI segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; and longevity insurance products. The LGIM segment offers index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real assets.