Insider Buying: Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Insider Purchases £196 in Stock

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

Legal & General Group Price Performance

LGEN opened at GBX 226.69 ($2.92) on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 241.72 and its 200 day moving average price is 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.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last posted its 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 return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 0.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 earnings per share for the current year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Legal & General Group’s previous dividend of $6.00. This represents a yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Legal & General Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 387.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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