Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.75.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LYG shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lloyds Banking Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 339.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 58,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 45,341 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 20.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,055,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 180,178 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 43.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 51,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 15,478 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,703,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after buying an additional 627,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 73.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 687,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 290,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE LYG opened at $3.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.06. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12 month low of $2.42 and a 12 month high of $3.91. The company has a market cap of $58.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.1035 dividend. This represents a yield of 4%. This is a boost from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers.