Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) Insider Sells £481,360.76 in Stock

Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) insider António Simões sold 197,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 244 ($3.15), for a total transaction of £481,360.76 ($621,591.89).

Legal & General Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LON LGEN opened at GBX 243.60 ($3.15) on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 239.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 229.96. Legal & General Group Plc has a 12 month low of GBX 211.40 ($2.73) and a 12 month high of GBX 266.20 ($3.44). The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.18. The firm has a market capitalization of £14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 44.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Legal & General Group Increases Dividend

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

Legal & General Group announced that its board has approved a stock 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LGEN shares. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 265 ($3.42) price objective on shares of Legal & General Group in a research report 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. increased their target price on shares of Legal & General Group from GBX 290 ($3.74) to GBX 295 ($3.81) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Legal & General Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.