Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Lloyds Banking Group plc (LON:LLOY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 55.33 ($0.70).

LLOY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Lloyds Banking Group to a “market perform” rating and set a GBX 50 ($0.63) price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 59 ($0.74) price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Peel Hunt initiated coverage on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a GBX 55 ($0.69) price objective for the company. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Lloyds Banking Group from GBX 55 ($0.69) to GBX 58 ($0.73) and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lloyds Banking Group in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lloyds Banking Group

In other Lloyds Banking Group news, insider Robin Budenberg acquired 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 45 ($0.57) per share, with a total value of £450,000 ($565,255.62). In related news, insider Robin Budenberg acquired 1,000,000 shares of Lloyds Banking Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 45 ($0.57) per share, for a total transaction of £450,000 ($565,255.62). Also, insider William Chalmers bought 128,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 52 ($0.65) per share, with a total value of £66,621.36 ($83,684.66). Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Lloyds Banking Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LLOY stock opened at GBX 52.18 ($0.66) on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 50.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 46.08. The company has a market cap of £33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 652.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Lloyds Banking Group has a 12-month low of GBX 39.42 ($0.50) and a 12-month high of GBX 54.28 ($0.68).

Lloyds Banking Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of GBX 1.84 ($0.02) per share. This is an increase from Lloyds Banking Group’s previous dividend of $0.92. This represents a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. Lloyds Banking Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,750.00%.

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.