Drive Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,599 Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC $LYG

Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LYG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth $29,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth $35,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the first quarter worth $37,000. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lloyds Banking Group during the second quarter worth $38,000. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

NYSE LYG opened at $4.46 on Wednesday. Lloyds Banking Group PLC has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $4.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $66.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.21.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 17.51% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The firm had revenue of $6.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group PLC will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.0655 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 370.0%. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.50%.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

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.