Is Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS) An Exciting Emerging Market Play?

So is Barclays a buy?
Earnings per share are expected to edge 3% higher to 36 pence, according to City experts, before taking off 22% in the following 12-month period to 43 pence.

Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) has steadily rebuilt its dividend policy after taking the scythe to shareholder payouts in 2009 due to the fallout of Lehman Brothers’ collapse the year before. The firm increased the full-year dividend payout to 6 pence per share last year from 5.5 pence per share, and forecasters expect this to rise to 7.3 pence per share and 9.3 pence per share in 2013 and 2014. These carry yields of 2.5% and 3.2%, albeit still below a prospective average yield of 3.8% for the banking sector.

The bank was recently dealing on a P/E rating of 8.1 and 6.7 for 2013 and 2014, correspondingly, representing a chunky discount to a prospective earnings multiple of 11.5 for the entire banking sector. I believe that the firm’s earnings recovery makes it a decent pick among the baking sector, sweetened by improving dividend prospects.

The article Is Barclays an Exciting Emerging Market Play? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Royston Wild has no position in any stocks mentioned, and neither does The Motley Fool.

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