Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LYG. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Monday, December 1st.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LYG. L1 Capital Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $548,574,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $285,004,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 148,828,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $632,522,000 after acquiring an additional 16,705,846 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $63,928,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in Lloyds Banking Group by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,614,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

Shares of LYG opened at $4.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12-month low of $3.27 and a 12-month high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.52 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.134 dividend. This represents a yield of 447.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.95%.

About Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a UK-based banking and financial services company that provides a broad range of retail, commercial and insurance products. Its principal consumer-facing brands include Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, through which it offers current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans. The group also delivers services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporate clients, supplying business accounts, lending, payments and cash-management solutions.

In addition to core banking, Lloyds operates a significant wealth and insurance arm under the Scottish Widows brand, offering life insurance, pensions, investment and retirement planning products.