Barclays PLC (BCS) to Issue Semi-annual Dividend of $0.27 on April 4th

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) announced a semi-annual dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.2737 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27.

Barclays has increased its dividend by an average of 36.1% annually over the last three years. Barclays has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Barclays to earn $2.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.55 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

Barclays Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCS opened at $15.46 on Wednesday. Barclays has a 12 month low of $8.37 and a 12 month high of $15.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.15. Barclays had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 20.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barclays will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Barclays from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Barclays Company Profile

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services.