Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Short Interest Update

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered 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 and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Barclays in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Barclays during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barclays by 135.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Barclays in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE BCS traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.86. 18,505,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,755,811. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Barclays has a 12 month low of $7.24 and a 12 month high of $15.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.89. The company 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.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that Barclays will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.2737 per share. This is an increase from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. This represents a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barclays’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

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.