Short Interest in Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) Rises By 5.2%

Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,300,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the July 15th total of 5,990,000 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on BCS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Barclays in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th.

Institutional Trading of Barclays

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barclays by 1,362.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 19,682,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,762,000 after acquiring an additional 18,335,937 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Barclays by 190.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,661,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402,500 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Barclays by 6,028.3% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,718,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,239,000 after buying an additional 1,690,339 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barclays by 231.3% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 2,323,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,306,000 after buying an additional 1,621,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Barclays by 118.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,709,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Barclays Stock Performance

NYSE:BCS opened at $11.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.13. Barclays has a twelve month low of $6.23 and a twelve month high of $12.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. Barclays had a net margin of 16.83% and a return on equity of 5.96%. The firm had revenue of $7.98 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Barclays will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Barclays Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.2684 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Barclays’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.27. Barclays’s payout ratio is 21.64%.

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.