Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Grows Stock Position in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,022 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LYG. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Down 0.1 %

LYG stock opened at $3.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.25. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a 12-month low of $2.42 and a 12-month high of $3.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.01.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.03). Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 11.45%. The company had revenue of $9.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.76 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.1035 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 4%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LYG shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Lloyds Banking Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.75.

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.