Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,118,063 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the February 26th total of 7,348,113 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 10,611,408 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Barclays Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of BCS stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,183,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,686,892. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.09. Barclays has a 12-month low of $12.14 and a 12-month high of $27.70.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.23 billion. Barclays had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 21.91%. On average, research analysts predict that Barclays will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.3069 per share. This represents a yield of 236.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barclays

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Barclays by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 177,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,521,000 after buying an additional 7,889 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in Barclays during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter worth approximately $293,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Arwa LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $308,000. 3.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BCS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Barclays in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barclays in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Barclays in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Barclays currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm provides a broad range of banking and financial products to individual, corporate and institutional customers. Its core activities span retail and business banking, credit cards and payments, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management.

In retail and business banking, Barclays offers deposit accounts, mortgages, personal and business loans, and card services.