Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires New Stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 216,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 762.1% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 14,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 13,123 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 655,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 23,983 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 675,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 19,954 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 298,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 30,746 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 114,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 11,325 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LYG shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 70 ($0.89) to GBX 68 ($0.87) in a report on Thursday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 63 ($0.80) to GBX 60 ($0.77) in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 70 ($0.89) to GBX 69 ($0.88) in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Lloyds Banking Group Price Performance

Lloyds Banking Group stock opened at $2.09 on Friday. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a twelve month low of $1.70 and a twelve month high of $2.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.64, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.27.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.83 billion. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 19.13%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.0792 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 4th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio is 24.32%.

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. It operates through 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 and small business customers.