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How to buy Legal & General shares | 256p
Own Legal & General shares in just a few minutes. Share price changes are updated daily.
Fact checked
Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN) is a leading insurance-life business based in the UK. It opened the day at 257.2p after a previous close of 258.7p. During the day the price has varied from a low of 254.5p to a high of 261p. The latest price was 256p (25 minute delay). Legal & General is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and employs 8,542 staff. All prices are listed in pence sterling.
How to buy shares in Legal & General
- Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
- Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Search the platform for stock code: LGEN in this case.
- Research Legal & General shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
- Buy your Legal & General shares. It's that simple.
What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in Legal & General?
- Has coronavirus impacted Legal & General shares?
- Legal & General shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is Legal & General stock a buy or sell?
- Legal & General performance over time
- Is Legal & General suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Legal & General shares over-valued?
- Legal & General's financials
- How volatile are Legal & General shares?
- Does Legal & General pay a dividend?
- Have Legal & General shares ever split?
- Other common questions
How has Coronavirus impacted Legal & General's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Legal & General's share price has had significant negative movement.
Its last market close was 190.35p, which is 39.36% down on its pre-crash value of 313.9p and 37.93% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as 138p.
If you had bought £1,000 worth of Legal & General shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth £455.62 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth £625.74.
Legal & General share price
Use our graph to track the performance of LGEN stocks over time.Legal & General shares at a glance
Information last updated 2020-12-18.
| Open | 257.2p |
|---|---|
| High | 261p |
| Low | 254.5p |
| Close | 256p |
| Previous close | 258.7p |
| Change | -2.7p |
| Change % | -1.044% |
| Volume | 18,917,650 |
Information last updated 2020-12-26.
| 52-week range | 126.6263p - 294.085p |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | 251.6243p |
| 200-day moving average | 220.1308p |
| Wall St. target price | 288.79p |
| PE ratio | 13.0588 |
| Dividend yield | 0.18p (6.6%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | 20.4p |
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Is it a good time to buy Legal & General stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
Legal & General price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the last close of 256p
| 1 week (2021-01-14) | -8.57% |
|---|---|
| 1 month (2020-12-22) | 2.65% |
| 3 months (2020-10-22) | 32.44% |
| 6 months (2020-07-22) | 12.63% |
| 1 year (2020-01-21) | -16.78% |
|---|---|
| 2 years (2019-01-21) | -0.74% |
| 3 years (2018-01-19) | -7.31% |
| 5 years (2016-01-21) | 8.52% |
Is Legal & General under- or over-valued?
Valuing Legal & General stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Legal & General's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Legal & General's P/E ratio
Legal & General's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 13x. In other words, Legal & General shares trade at around 13x recent earnings.
That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the FTSE 250 at the end of September 2019 (19.71). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.
However, Legal & General's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the insurance-life industry or those of similar companies.
- Aviva (AV.LSE): 5.97
- Prudential (PRU.LSE): 250.56
- MetLife (MET.US): 7.73
- The Allstate Corporation (ALL.US): 7.51
Legal & General's EBITDA
Legal & General's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping £1.7 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a Legal & General's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
To put Legal & General's EBITDA into context you can compare it against that of similar companies.
- Aviva (AV.LSE): £3.7 billion
- Prudential (PRU.LSE): £2 billion
- MetLife (MET.US): USD$8.1 billion
- The Allstate Corporation (ALL.US): USD$8.1 billion
Legal & General financials
| Revenue TTM | £15.3 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 11.23% |
| Gross profit TTM | £3.5 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | 0.19% |
| Return on equity TTM | 13.17% |
| Profit margin | 8.18% |
| Book value | 1.586p |
| Market capitalisation | £15.9 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
Legal & General's environmental, social and governance track record
Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Legal & General.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Legal & General's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 23
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Legal & General's overall score of 23 (as at 01/01/2019) is excellent – landing it in it in the 19th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Legal & General is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).
To gain some more context, you can compare Legal & General's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.
- Aviva (AV.LSE): 26.64
- Prudential (PRU.LSE): 24.40
- MetLife (MET.US): 18.05
- The Allstate Corporation (ALL.US): 24.45
Legal & General's environmental score
Environmental score: 9.02/100
Legal & General's environmental score of 9.02 puts it squarely in the 9th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Legal & General is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Legal & General's social score
Social score: 16.34/100
Legal & General's social score of 16.34 puts it squarely in the 9th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Legal & General is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.
Legal & General's governance score
Governance score: 13.14/100
Legal & General's governance score puts it squarely in the 9th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Legal & General is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Legal & General's controversy score
Controversy score: 1/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, Legal & General scored a 1 out of 5 for controversy – the highest score possible, reflecting that Legal & General has managed to keep its nose clean.
Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Legal & General Group Plc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
| Total ESG score | 23 |
|---|---|
| Total ESG percentile | 18.58 |
| Environmental score | 9.02 |
| Environmental score percentile | 9 |
| Social score | 16.34 |
| Social score percentile | 9 |
| Governance score | 13.14 |
| Governance score percentile | 9 |
| Level of controversy | 1 |
Legal & General share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 8785% of net profits
Recently Legal & General has paid out, on average, around 8785% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 6.6% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Legal & General shareholders could enjoy a 6.6% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Legal & General's case, that would currently equate to about 0.18p per share.
Legal & General's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.
The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 13 August 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").
Legal & General's dividend payout ratio is perhaps best considered in relation to those of similar companies.
- Aviva (AV.LSE): 6,254.55%
- Prudential (PRU.LSE): 3,334.67%
- MetLife (MET.US): 29.74%
- The Allstate Corporation (ALL.US): 17.90%
Have Legal & General's shares ever split?
Legal & General's shares were split on a 4:1 basis on 26 April 1999. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 4 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Legal & General shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 75% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Legal & General shares which in turn could have impacted Legal & General's share price.
Legal & General share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Legal & General's shares have ranged in value from as little as 126.6263p up to 294.085p. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (LSE average) beta is 1, while Legal & General's is 1.5168. This would suggest that Legal & General's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).
To put Legal & General's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.
- Aviva (AV.LSE): 1.2475
- Prudential (PRU.LSE): 1.3328
- MetLife (MET.US): 1.3643
- The Allstate Corporation (ALL.US): 0.7974
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Legal & General overview
Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services worldwide. It operates in Legal & General Retirement (LGR), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Legal & General Insurance (LGI) segments. The LGR segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; longevity insurance products for company pension schemes; lifetime mortgages; and lifetime care plans. The LGIM segment provides index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real estate funds. The LGC segment offers investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The LGI segment provides protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; savings and death benefits; and annuities. The company is also involved in insurance agency and brokerage, unit trust management, institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses. It also engages in the real estate investment and trading, fund general partner, fund trustee, commercial lending, venture and development capital, contractual scheme, management, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, reinsurance, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory and property services. The company was founded in 1836 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
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