Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Insider António Simões Sells 197,279 Shares of Stock

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) insider António Simões sold 197,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 244 ($3.15), for a total value of £481,360.76 ($621,993.49).

Legal & General Group Stock Performance

Shares of Legal & General Group stock opened at GBX 243.30 ($3.14) on Tuesday. Legal & General Group Plc has a 1 year low of GBX 211.40 ($2.73) and a 1 year high of GBX 266.20 ($3.44). The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 240.15 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 230.09. The stock has a market cap of £14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.92, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Legal & General Group (LON:LGEN) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of GBX 15.36 ($0.20) per share. This represents a yield of 6.18%. This is an increase from Legal & General Group’s previous dividend of $6.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Legal & General Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 387.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 265 ($3.42) target price on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “top pick” rating on shares of Legal & General Group in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 290 ($3.75) to GBX 295 ($3.81) and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.