Clare Bousfield Acquires 20,369 Shares of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Stock

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) insider Clare Bousfield acquired 20,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 244 ($3.15) per share, with a total value of £49,700.36 ($64,262.17).

Legal & General Group Stock Performance

Shares of LGEN traded down GBX 1.86 ($0.02) during trading hours on Monday, hitting GBX 242.08 ($3.13). The stock had a trading volume of 18,987,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,983,842. The firm has a market capitalization of £14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 241.20 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 230.64. 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 ($3.44).

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The financial services provider reported GBX 2.89 ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 7.79%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LGEN. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 265 ($3.43) price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 290 ($3.75) to GBX 295 ($3.81) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “top pick” rating on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 267 ($3.45).

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.