Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 114.60.

LLOY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 117 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 125 to GBX 127 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 121 to GBX 123 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 125 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 124 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Friday, September 11th.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at GBX 102.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of £59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.91. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of GBX 81.82 and a 52 week high of GBX 117.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is GBX 111.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 105.37.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported GBX 4.80 earnings per share for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 26.73% and a return on equity of 11.05%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group will post 7.3199528 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lloyds Banking Group

In other news, insider Catherine Woods acquired 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 110 per share, with a total value of £1,991. Also, insider William Chalmers sold 8,445,139 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 112, for a total value of £9,458,555.68. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

We are the largest UK retail and commercial financial services provider with over 25 million customers and a presence in nearly every community.

The Group’s main business activities are retail and commercial banking, general insurance and long-term savings, provided through the largest branch network and digital bank in the UK, with well recognised brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows.

Our shares are quoted on the London and New York stock exchanges and we are one of the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index.