Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.64 and last traded at $17.60, with a volume of 2898223 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Barclays from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barclays from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Barclays Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.50.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. Barclays had a net margin of 20.81% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $10.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.37 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barclays PLC will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barclays

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Barclays by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 32,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Barclays during the first quarter worth $230,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 72.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 47,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 19,818 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 19.8% in the first quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 3,817,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,634,000 after purchasing an additional 630,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EJF Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Barclays by 9.7% in the first quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 188,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares during the last quarter. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.