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

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,890,000 shares, a drop of 9.8% from the January 15th total of 9,860,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 13,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCS. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 9,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC lifted its stake in Barclays by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 102,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its position in Barclays by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 46,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Barclays by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 48,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barclays by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 40,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE BCS opened at $14.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67. Barclays has a 1 year low of $7.24 and a 1 year high of $15.43.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last issued its 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 6.30% and a net margin of 17.83%. As a group, research analysts expect that Barclays will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.2737 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

About Barclays

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.