Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 96.08 and last traded at GBX 95.64, with a volume of 464988063 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 93.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 84 target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 75 to GBX 77 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 85 to GBX 98 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 100 to GBX 110 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 105 price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 94.50.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of £56.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 86.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 81.37.

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported GBX 1 EPS for the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 16.66%. On average, analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 7.3199528 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider William Chalmers acquired 138,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 84 per share, for a total transaction of £116,527.32. Also, insider Charlie Nunn acquired 217,494 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 84 per share, for a total transaction of £182,694.96. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.