Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 283.01 and last traded at GBX 267.01, with a volume of 30162658 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 265.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LGEN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 205 to GBX 220 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Legal & General Group from GBX 249 to GBX 263 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Legal & General Group to an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 185 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 308 price target on shares of Legal & General Group in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 250.71.

Legal & General Group Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 253.01 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 255.16. The company has a market capitalization of £14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The financial services provider reported GBX 831 EPS for the quarter. Legal & General Group had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 0.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Legal & General Group Plc will post 24.2376446 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Legal & General Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 11th that allows the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Legal & General Group

In related news, insider António Simões sold 120,226 shares of Legal & General Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 240, for a total transaction of £288,542.40. Also, insider Ric Lewis purchased 931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 253 per share, with a total value of £2,355.43. In the last three months, insiders purchased 7,085 shares of company stock worth $1,840,038 and sold 410,095 shares worth $106,048,563. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.