Barclays (LSE: BARC) shares are having a great run at the moment. Over the last year, they’ve surged about 45%.
Can they keep rising in value? Let’s see what City analysts think.
Analysts are bullish on Barclays
At present, the average analyst 12-month price target for Barclays is 560p. That’s about 9% above the current share price of 512p.
If it was to be hit, a £5,000 investment today would grow to around £5,470. That’s before dividends though – there’s a yield of around 3% on offer here so that could add another £150 or so for investors.
It’s worth noting that some of the more recent price targets from the analyst community have been more bullish. For example, earlier this month, analysts at Morgan Stanley set a target of 610p.
Meanwhile, last month, analysts at Berenberg set a target of 620p. These targets are around 20% higher than the current share price.
600p in 2027?
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the shares rise to 600p over the next 12 months or so. That’s because the backdrop for diversified banks looks quite favourable at the moment.
This was illustrated in the Q2 earnings of US banks such as JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citi earlier this month. Last quarter, all the big US banks saw a huge increase in investment banking fees, driven by the SpaceX IPO and a high level of activity in AI-related capital markets.
They also saw a boom in equities trading. This was the result of market volatility, IPOs, sector rotations, and index rebalancing.
Additionally, they saw wealth management revenues climbing. Here, high stock markets boosted assets under management.
Overall, there are a lot of ways for diversified banks to make money at the moment. Note that Barclays – which posts its H1 results on 28 July – has exposure to investment banking, trading, and wealth management.
The shares look cheap today
One other reason I’m bullish on Barclays is the valuation. It’s still quite low despite the fact that the bank’s share price has surged over the last year.
With analysts expecting earnings per share of 52.6p this year, the forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is under 10. For reference, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are on 15.1 and 18, respectively, so there appears to be some value here on a relative basis.
Given the low valuation, I think there’s a decent chance the stock could see more interest from investors in the second half of 2026. This could support the upward share price trend.
We could even see more interest in the sector as a whole. After all, banks are far cheaper than tech stocks at the moment.
Worth a look?
Now, I do need to point out that banks are vulnerable to economic weakness. So if we were to see a slowdown in the UK and/or the US in the years ahead, the shares could underperform.
Right now though, the outlook for Barclays appears to be bright. So, I think the shares are worth considering.
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Edward Sheldon owns shares in JP Morgan.
