Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 16,730,546 shares, an increase of 81.6% from the September 15th total of 9,213,756 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,511,175 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Lloyds Banking Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,005,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after buying an additional 222,310 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 642,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,748,000 after acquiring an additional 258,941 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,564,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,250,000 after acquiring an additional 351,626 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $128,228,000. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in Lloyds Banking Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE LYG opened at $5.47 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market cap of $79.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.91. Lloyds Banking Group has a 52 week low of $4.44 and a 52 week high of $6.34.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). Lloyds Banking Group had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.86 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lloyds Banking Group will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.0840 dividend. This represents a yield of 273.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This is a negative change from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.1340. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lloyds Banking Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

Lloyds Banking Group Company Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a United Kingdom-based financial services company headquartered in London. Its principal businesses include retail banking, commercial banking, insurance, pensions and long-term savings. The group serves individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, commercial clients and institutional customers primarily across the United Kingdom.

The group operates through well-known brands including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows. Its products and services include current and savings accounts, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, business banking, corporate lending, investment products, insurance and retirement planning.