Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 250.71.

LGEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 243 to GBX 249 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Legal & General Group news, insider Ric Lewis acquired 931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 253 per share, with a total value of £2,355.43. Also, insider John Kingman acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, for a total transaction of £1,644.50. In the last three months, insiders have bought 7,085 shares of company stock worth $1,840,038 and have sold 410,095 shares worth $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Legal & General Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of LGEN stock opened at GBX 247 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of £13.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80. Legal & General Group has a 52-week low of GBX 217.20 and a 52-week high of GBX 279.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 253.14 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 254.67.

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

Legal & General Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 11th 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. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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. 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.